Thermal bridges are weak areas of the building envelope, determining heat flows higher than those characterizing the common dispersing surfaces (i.e., walls without discontinuities). This phenomenon induces uncontrolled thermal losses and hygiene problems, connected to the possible vapor...

With reference to building applications, recent scientific literature shows good potential in reducing cooling loads by means of phase change materials (PCMs), integrated in the building exterior envelope.

Thermal bridges are areas of risk of the building envelope, inducing uncontrolled increments of heat transfer, mainly in winter. This notwithstanding, thermal bridges are often neglected in energy audits, since many numerical codes for building energy simulations adopt heat transfer models based...

The purpose of the present paper is to propose a methodology for the fluid selection of an Organic Rankine Cycle for low-temperature waste heat recovery. The selection of an optimal working fluid is carried out by an optimization process, using the Genetic Algorithm. Three decision variables are...

The European Energy Efficiency Building Directive 2002/91/CE, as well as other acts and funding programs, strongly promotes the adoption of passive strategies for buildings, in order to achieve indoor thermal comfort conditions above all in summer, so reducing or avoiding the use of air...

In the museum environment, the temporal stability and the spatial uniformity of the indoor microclimatic parameters are necessary primarily for the correct artwork conservation and then for the occupant thermal comfort. Therefore, a HVAC system is usually necessary.