The paper presents one of the first Italian experiences assessing the effectiveness of sustainable production and consumption strategies.

A rigorous mathematical approach is developed for optimization of sustainable single-effect water/Lithium Bromide (LiBr) absorption cooling cycles. The multi-objective formulation accounts for minimization of the chiller area as well as the environmental impact associated with the operation of...

The dairy sector contributes to climate change through emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs), via mainly carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). Replacing grass silage with maize silage is a feeding strategy to reduce enteric CH4 emission. The effect of this strategy on GHG...

Photovoltaic system is a technology for the production of electricity from renewable sources that is rapidly expanding thanks to its capability to reduce the energy consumption from traditional sources and to decrease the air pollution. During the operational phase, there are no emissions and...

The present study aims at assessing environmental and energy compatibility of different solutions of thermal insulation in building envelope. In fact a good insulation results in a reduction of heating/cooling energy consumptions; on the other hand construction materials undergo production,...

Certifications such as the Passive House aim to reduce the final space heating energy demand of residential buildings. The latter are responsible for a significant share of final energy consumption in Europe of which nearly 70% is associated with space conditioning, notably heating. The...

The Renewable Fuel Standard 2 (RFS2) program under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 set a life-cycle emission reduction threshold to only greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; this type of single-dimensional threshold could lead to the unintended trading of one environmental problem...

When developing sustainable building fabric technologies, it is essential that the energy use and CO2 burden arising from manufacture does not outweigh the respective in-use savings. This study investigates this paradigm by carrying out a streamlined life cycle assessment (LCA) of silica...

A previous study on Sunshine to Petrol (S2P), a technology framework to produce liquid hydrocarbon fuels from CO2 and water using a concentrated solar energy source, focused on process development as well as economic evaluation. The study herein presents results from a life cycle assessment...

When a building undergoes a retrofit project, the goal of assessing energy and environmental performances of retrofit actions is a complex matter. Building and its environment are complex systems in which all sub-systems are strongly interdependent and influence the overall efficiency...