Abstract
The implementation of energy efficiency measures is pushing the building industry towards new performance standards which often involve other important aspects influencing indoor environment quality. Windows, are the best example where all these features combine together. Thus, the project aims at providing innovative solutions that might simultaneously satisfy different requirements. Windows have multiple roles in assuring a good façade performance: they must provide natural lighting, give good insulation against outdoor noise, provide ventilation when opened and mitigate overheating by use of special glasses, shades etc. These diverse functions are commonly considered disconnected in building design, so that strategies to control these different systems have been developed with entirely separated approaches [1]. This fragmented approach has led to different designers making different, incompatible assumptions about the internal environmental quality conditions: for example, the acoustic designer assumes that windows are closed to control external noise input, while the mechanical designer assumes that windows are open for ventilation or mitigating overheating. This forces occupants to choose one function and to exclude the other; of course, neither choice is optimal for indoor comfort [2]. This problem is becoming more and more relevant by increased overheating risk in modern buildings and future climate change scenarios. This research project aims to overcome the above-mentioned difficulties in order to advance the technology readiness level of windows based on the acoustic metamaterial science to improve their noise control performance while assuring a good natural ventilation without compromising the energy performance. The researchers will design, realize and test a full-scale prototype of an acoustic metawindow (AMW) unit for broadband noise control (50 Hz to 5000 Hz in one-third octave bands) and natural ventilation, having also a good energy performance. The expected results are finalized at breaking down barriers to create a national and international market of knowledge, research and innovation, in matter of innovative products and processes for building envelope, characterized by a high level of sustainability and comfort. Therefore, the proposed project aims at both pushing forward research and innovation and realizing a useful technology transfer and industry support.
Project details
Unibo Team Leader: Massimo Garai
Unibo involved Department/s:
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale
Coordinator:
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - Università di Bologna(Italy)
Total Eu Contribution: Euro (EUR) 197.488,00
Total Unibo Contribution: Euro (EUR) 66.303,00
Project Duration in months: 24
Start Date:
28/09/2023
End Date:
28/02/2026
