Federica Rosso

Natural Materials for Thermal Insulation and Passive Cooling Application

In this chapter a critical analysis about natural materials to enhance energy performance and thermal comfort in indoor and outdoor spaces is dealt with. In particular, thermal insulation and passive cooling application in buildings are analyzed. The physical properties permitting to achieve these benefits are presented, as well as the method and the international standards to measure them. Benefits deriving from these materials’ employment as insulation layers or buildings envelope in general of, or in the case of urban paving, are described and then the single materials are illustrated.Experimental and numerical data, as reported in the bibliography, support the dissertation with examples from the most recent research contributions.

Traditional and Innovative Materials for Energy Efficiency in Buildings

This chapter shows the most recent and innovative contributions and research trends arounbd the wide issue of energy efficiency in buildings by means of passive techniques, such as new effective materials for building envelope optimization. In particular, cool materials will be dealt with by considering their capability to keep a surface cooler than other solutions when exposed to solar radiation. Then multifunctional materials such as thermal and acoustic insulation panels will be analyzed. Finbally, natural and biobased solutions for energy saving will be investigated. Each one of these topics will be studied by elaborating a first general assessment of each technique and then by analyzing the most recent contributions and research trends in order to provide a wide perspective of the question that is going to be addressed in this chapter.

Optical Characterization of Translucent Stone Subject to Degradation

Marble is an aesthetically appealing and thermodynamically ‘cool’ building material. However, when subject to weathering, marble building facade elements undergo surface degradation that result in changes to appearance and optical properties. These changes impact both the aesthetics and the thermal characteristics of the marble. This chapter highlights an experimental approach for the characterization of these changes, and numerical simulations for studying the corresponding impact on building energy performance when marble is used as an envelope finishing layer. Optical characteristics studied include gloss, solar reflectance, transmittance and absorbance. Changes in the optical characteristics of marble are used to assess the effect of degradation on it’s thermal properties.