Riccardo Maria Pulselli

Self-organization in dissipative structures: a thermodynamic theory for the emergence of prebiotic cells and their epigenetic evolution.

This paper presents a discussion on self-organization processes in dissipative structures, in order to highlight the general conditions for raising complexity and generate order. In particular, some concepts were introduced from non-equilibrium thermodynamics and from the Molecular Anamorphic Evolution Theory, especially concerning processes of matter randomization. Once a theoretical thermodynamics-based framework for understanding self-organizing systems had been presented, a spontaneous transition from macrostates richer in microstates to macrostates poorer in microstates was explained, as an attempt to point out the probable existing conditions at the formation of prebiotic structures. Closed systems, constrained by a lipid bilayer and with an internal water environment, were presented as cases of self-organization towards living systems. It was then highlighted that the origin of life depends on epigenetic and autopoietic processes, since metabolism plays a more relevant role than replication in making novelties emerge.

City out of chaos: Social patterns and organization in urban systems

This research develops innovative approaches for urban studies, applying the theories of evolutionary physics and ecosystems to urban systems and defining a theoretical interdisciplinary approach. A new social positioning method for monitoring urban mobility, named Mobile Landscapes, studies the space–time behaviour of urban society. This project uses location-based data from cell phones to reveal the locations and intensities of urban activities (people using space) and to analyse mobility patterns in cities. An aim of the Mobile Landscapes project is to investigate human dynamics. Considering a city as a place of interactions between humans and the built environment, maps of social activity reveal how urban–social systems have self-adaptive properties like complex dissipative systems. Focusing on dynamic patterns of urban–social activity, this project highlights the role of time in urban processes and takes an evolutionary approach to urban planning and design. The case study described in this paper is based on data from cell phone antennas in the metropolitan area of Milan, Italy.

Environmental and Economic Evaluation of Natural Capital Appropriation through Building Construction: Practical Case Study in the Italian Context

Abstract This paper focuses on appropriation of natural capital through construction of buildings. The ecological footprint and the Costanza natural capital concepts are applied. The environmental consequences of human settlement are currently of great concern, and a need is felt to reduce the impact of building on the environment. The embodied energy of building materials and the “land area” required to sustain their production are considered to evaluate the demand on nature of this activity. The ecological footprints of 2 typical Italian buildings are compared. The paper also focuses on how to reduce the natural capital appropriation of building construction by means of environmentally inexpensive materials, renewable energy resources, and optimization of the use of bioproductive land by construction of multistoried buildings. Finally, to allocate an environmental load of buildings, an economic evaluation of natural capital appropriation through building construction is proposed.

The Ecological Footprint of Building Construction

This paper evaluates the environmental pressure that is generated by the construction of two types of building, through the application of ecological footprint analysis. The appraisal of the impact of human settlement on the environment is of great concern and environmentally-friendly buildings are actually required. By considering the embodied energy of building materials and the “land area” required to sustain their assembly line, a comparison between the ecological footprint of two typical buildings in the context of Italy is presented. Finally, it is shown that the ecological footprint of building construction can be reduced by using environmentally-inexpensive materials, renewable energy resources and by optimizing bio-productive land use through the construction of multi-story buildings.

FORMATION OF DISSIPATIVE STRUCTURES IN LIQUID WATER

In living systems, water takes part in the dynamics of life, not only because it accounts for 99% of all biomolecules but also because it provides energy to living matter. Water has the ability to achieve an extended form of organization and provide an ensemble of different coherence domains (CDs) that are phase locked, thus maximizing their capacity to ‘look for’ energy from the environment. This ‘coherence of coherences’ of ‘biological water’ in living systems corresponds to a sort of higher organization. An efficient mechanism of energy transformation from CDs to biomolecules in living matter guarantees the transfer of biochemical energy necessary for the maintenance of life cycles. The dynamics of formation of dissipative structures in liquid water and the process of self-organization of living organisms induced by water are briefly discussed. Dissipative structures appear as a consequence of the phase locking within an ensemble of CDs. The process of charge and discharge of energy is discussed.

Integrating human and natural systems sustainably: emergy evaluation and visualization of the Abruzzo Region

This paper presents an environmental accounting method, based on Odum’s systems theory. So-called emergy analysis (spelled with an M) was here applied for evaluating sustainability of the Abruzzo Region, a large area in the middle of Italy along east coast. This study attempts to answer questions concerning: globalization (strong competition among regional and national systems, outsourcing of productive activities), energy (growth of consumptions, cost and lack of resources), territorial disequilibrium (concentration of activities and environmental impacts) and use of resources (renewable and non renewable). The aim of this research is to study a territorial system and to verify potentiality and contribution that this environmental accounting technique provides to manage and to program the future development. In particular this study aims to understand the functioning of a region based on the analysis of stocks and flows of energy and matter inside the examined area, investigating their spatial distribution and their relationships with geo-morphological structure of territory. This study further evaluates the use of local resources and aims to understand the relationships among the different parts of a territorial systems, their level of autonomy in terms of resource use and their effective spatial boundaries, which usually do not correspond to the administrative limits. The study also attempts to present the evaluation in an easily comprehensible graphic manner as digital maps.

Sustainability Concern Of Housing:Emergy Storage And Flow Assessment

A city is an organized open structure made of assembled materials and buildings that constantly interface with changeable contextual agents such as clime, weather, solar irradiation and human beings. Urban systems feed on energy inflows in order to achieve an organization (e.g. society, economy, architecture) that is maintained in time. The interaction of different inputs from the environment generates the building as a built storage in which energy and materials have been stocked. Energy and materials inflows are required to maintain and to use the building in time (for instance, electricity, water and gas are needed for building use). These interaction processes between buildings and the external environment are the focus of this study. Is it possible to measure these processes to evaluate sustainability of urban systems? How can the impact due to resource exploitation of housing on local sustainability be measured? Can we evaluate the environmental effects of urban strategies and structural plans? An environmental accounting method, namely emergy analysis (spelled with an ‘m’), was applied to an urban area considering the main activities of an entire human settlement and a detailed analysis was focussed on housing: the general environmental performances of buildings in terms of resource exploitation were evaluated considering their construction, maintenance and use. As a case study, an emergy analysis of the municipality of Ravenna (north-eastern Italy) is presented with a special focus on housing and on the trend of growth of the building industry.

Environmental Accounting of Buildings: Outcomes from the Emergy Analysis

This paper describes how efforts have been made in recent years to promote integrated building design practices based on the definition of “green building” criteria as common standards of measurement. For example, Green Building Rating Systems such as LEED (US) and BREEAM (UK) provide national standards for developing high-performance sustainable buildings. However, integrated environmental accounting methods are still required to evaluate the general environmental performances of buildings in the two phases of their construction and their use, relative to problems such as global resource exhaustion and energy wasting. In this paper an emergy analysis is applied to buildings. The emergy method uses the thermodynamic basis of all forms of energy and matter and converts them into equivalents of one form of energy. Energy enables the account of energy and material flows for building manufacturing, maintenance and use (housing). Different materials, technologies and structural elements can be compared to each other in order to hypothesize different scenarios for future buildings. A comprehensive appraisal of the building industry and its environmental impacts is then expected.

An Emergy Evaluation Of A Medieval WaterManagement System: The Case Of TheUnderground \“Bottini” In Siena (Italy)

In the middle ages, Siena had a high population density and had to face the problem of water supply within the city walls for housing, crafts, industrial activities and fire risks. With this aim, a series of underground drifts, namely “Bottini”, was built at the beginning of the 13th century and achieved a total length of 25 km in the 14th century. Bottini have been capturing rain water and conducting it from the countryside to the fountains in the city centre for centuries. Brick pavements and other structures, such as brick vaults (where necessary), guaranteed water clearness and allowed a special team of workers, “bottinieri”, to move throughout the tunnels for management and maintenance. Bottini still bring 9.5 l/s of clear water. Currently water is only used to fill the fountains and is then wasted. Based on statistics on water use, we argued that the activity of maintaining Bottini is not only a good practice for the conservation of a precious cultural heritage, but could also be potentially an opportunity for improving urban ecology. In this paper, we propose to investigate the environmental impact of water use comparing Bottini with a contemporary water management system. In particular, an “emergy evaluation” was developed for providing information about the sustainability of water use, both nowadays and in the past. Preliminary results showed that Bottini have a much lower environmental impact and can be potentially reused by withdrawing water and using it for some activities – such as irrigation of gardens and playgrounds, street washing and sanitary use – within the historical centre of Siena.

Urban sustainability: CO2 uptake by green areas in the historic centre of Siena

Nature provides free assets and ecological services essential for human health and economic activity. For this reason, our ecosystems need to be protected and managed without affecting their integrity in the long run. The absorption of carbon dioxide (CO2) by vegetation is one of the most important services provided by the ecosystem, which needs to be preserved over time, because it regulates the planetary energy and entropic balance. In the cities, population growth, together with progressive urbanization, often leads towards a reduction of green areas and related ecological systems. Therefore, urbanization processes should be planned, also keeping in mind maintenance of a right equilibrium between built and green areas. In this study, the green areas in the historic centre of the city of Siena (Tuscany, central Italy) were identified and investigated. It was found that the total surface area of the historic centre was 169.64 ha, of which 71.54 ha was occupied by valleys and other green areas. The real contribution of this natural heritage to the CO2 absorption capacity of the ecosystem, was 330.50 t CO2 yr −1, depending on the vegetation types present in the green areas (e.g. trees, olive groves, vineyards, bamboo, grass and vegetables). Data showed remarkable carbon-storage efficiency untypical of a highly populated urban area (1.95 t CO2 haoverall −1 yr−1). In an urban system, the presence of large green areas and their proper management are necessary to ensure its sustainability.