Francesco Pittau

Last Name

Pittau

First Name

Francesco

ORCID

0000-0002-7217-6019

Show all metadata

Search Results

Publications 1 - 10 of 36

Life Cycle Analysis of Strengthening Existing RC Structures with R-PE-UHPFRC
Hajiesmaeili, Amir; Pittau, Francesco; Denarié, Emmanuel; et al. (2019)
Sustainability
(PE)-UHPFRC, a novel strain hardening ultra high-performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) with low clinker content, using Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMW-PE) fibers, was developed for structural applications of rehabilitation. A comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) was carried out to study the environmental impact of interventions on an existing bridge using PE-UHPFRC compared with conventional UHPFRC and post-tensioned reinforced concrete methods in three categories of global warming potential (GWP), cumulative energy demand (CED), and ecological scarcity (UBP). The results showed 55% and 29% decreases in the environmental impact of the PE-UHPFRC compared with reinforced concrete and conventional UHPFRC methods, respectively, which highlighted the effectiveness of this material for the rehabilitation/strengthening of structures from the viewpoint of environmental impact.
Holzbau als Kohlenstoffspeicher – Potenzial des Schweizer Gebäudeparks
Pittau, Francesco; Habert, Guillaume; Savi, Daniel; et al. (2022)
Life cycle assessment of Self-Healing Engineered Cementitious Composite (SH-ECC) used for the rehabilitation of bridges
Van den Heede, Philip; De Belie, Nele; Pittau, Francesco; et al. (2018)
Life-Cycle of Civil Engineering Systems ~ Life Cycle Analysis and Assessment in Civil Engineering: Towards an Integrated Vision
Retrofit as a carbon sink: The carbon storage potentials of the EU housing stock
Pittau, Francesco; Lumia, Gabriele; Heeren, Niko; et al. (2019)
Journal of Cleaner Production
Combining LCA and LCC in the early-design stage: a preliminary study for residential buildings technologies
Dejaco, Mario C.; Mazzucchelli, Enrico S.; Pittau, Francesco; et al. (2020)
IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science
Environmental impact assessment of wood bio-concretes: Evaluation of the influence of different supplementary cementitious materials
Caldas, Lucas Rosse; Da Gloria, M'hamed Yassin R.; Pittau, Francesco; et al. (2021)
Construction and Building Materials
This study evaluates the environmental impacts of workable wood bio-concretes (WBC). The WBC is composed of wood shavings, Portland cement (CEM), and two Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs): metakaolin (MK) and fly ash (FA). A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was performed on seven WBC mixtures containing different contents of SCMs. When the compressive strength was used as a functional unit, the mixture containing 40% MK and 10% FA achieved the lowest values in most impact categories. We concluded that the CEM replacement by SCMs is a promising strategy to reduce the environmental impacts of the WBC, especially the climate change impact. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd.
Material Diets for Climate-Neutral Construction
Carcassi, Olga Beatrice; Habert, Guillaume; Malighetti, Laura Elisabetta; et al. (2022)
Environmental Science & Technology
The climate crisis is urging us to act fast. Buildings are a key leverage point in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but the embodied emissions related to their construction often remain the hidden challenge of any ambitious policy. Therefore, in this paper, we explored material GHG neutralization where herbaceous biobased insulation materials with negative net-global warming potentials (GWPs) were used to compensate for building elements that necessarily release GHGs. Different material diets, as well as different building typologies, were modeled to assess the consequences in terms of biobased insulation requirements to reach climate neutrality. Our results show that climate-neutral construction can be built with sufficient energy performance to fulfill current standards and with building component thicknesses within a range of 1.05–0.58 m when timber- and bamboo-based construction is chosen. Concrete-based ones require insulation sizes that are too large and heavy to be supported by the dimensioned structures or accepted by urban regulations. Moreover, a time horizon of 20 years is more appropriate for assessing the contribution of material shifts to biobased materials in the transition period before 2050. This paper demonstrates that this is technically feasible and that climate neutrality in the construction sector just depends on the future that we choose.
Environmental consequences of refurbishment versus demolition and reconstruction: a comparative life cycle assessment of an Italian case study
Pittau, Francesco; Giacomel, Dayana; Iannaccone, Giuliana; et al. (2020)
Journal of Green Building
In the building sector, new standards for energy efficiency are reducing the energy consumption and the carbon emissions for building operation to nearly zero. As a result, the greenhouse gas emissions and related environmental impacts from materials production, and especially insulation, are becoming key factors. In the near future, most of the building stock is expected to be refurbished and a great amount of construction materials will be consequently required. A relevant share of waste is generated from building construction and demolition and limiting the volume is a priority of the EU community. In this work the renovation of industrial buildings in a dismissed area located in Lecco, Italy, was considered as a case study. Five alternative construction systems (EPS, WOOD, ROCK, PU, HEMP) for renovating the building envelopes were assumed, and a life cycle assessment (LCA) adopted in order to measure the environmental impact of each alternative. The results were compared with a scenario which included demolition and reconstruction of a similar building with the same net volume and thermal resistance. The results showed that timber and concrete are the most environmentally friendly materials to rebuild the structures in case of demolition, contrary to steel which leads generally to higher environmental impacts, except land use. In general, EPS, WOOD and HEMP technological alternatives accounted for the highest scores, both in terms of burdens on the ecosystems and on depletion of resources, while ROCK accounted for the lowest scores. Finally, refurbishment scenarios generally accounted for a lower global warming potential (GWP) even if demolition, waste treatment and the benefit from recycling/reuse are taken into account.
Riqualificare con materiali biogenici: Le potenzialita’ di stoccaggio di CO2 degli edifici residenziali europei
Pittau, Francesco; Lumia, Gabriele; Habert, Guillaume; et al. (2018)
Edilizia Circolare. Costruire nel Terzo Millennio
Nei prossimi decenni una parte consistente del patrimonio di edilizia residenziale euro-pea (UE-28) dovrà essere oggetto di interventi di riqualificazione profonda se si vuole mantenere l’innalzamento della temperatura media globale ben al di sotto dei 2 °C, come richiesto dall’Ac-cordo di Parigi entro il 2050. I materiali biogenici utilizzati per migliorare le prestazioni di isola-mento termico degli edifici e per stoccare temporaneamente anidride carbonica negli elementi co-struttivi possono costituire un’opportunità molto valida per accelerare i processi di transizione verso una società a emissioni zero. In tale contesto, l’obiettivo di questo lavoro è investigare gli effetti dello stoccaggio di anidride carbonica nei prodotti da costruzione biogenici quando applicati in modo esteso negli interventi di riqualificazione energetica dell’involucro degli edifici residenziali esistenti. Nello specifico, ai fini dell’analisi, sono prese in considerazione cinque soluzioni alterna-tive di isolamento: tre a base di materiali biogenici a crescita rapida, una con telaio in legno e riempimento isolante in fibra di legno e, infine, una soluzione standard con isolante sintetico. Un’analisi dinamica del ciclo di vita è stata condotta per introdurre il fattore temporale nel calcolo e verificare il contributo delle cinque soluzioni alla riduzione o all’incremento delle emissioni di anidride carbonica nel tempo. I risultati mostrano che i materiali biogenici a crescita rapida offrono un potenziale di stoccaggio più elevato rispetto agli altri considerati nell’analisi, tra cui anche il legno. In particolare, quando sono usati come materiali isolanti, la loro capacità di sequestrare ani-dride carbonica dall’atmosfera risulta efficace nel breve periodo e questa rappresenta un’importante strategia di mitigazione verso il raggiungimento degli obiettivi di lungo termine previsti dall’ac-cordo sul clima di Parigi.
Prefabrication as Large-scale Efficient Strategy for the Energy Retrofit of the Housing Stock: An Italian Case Study
Pittau, Francesco; Malighetti, Laura E.; Iannaccone, Giuliana; et al. (2017)
Procedia Engineering ~ International High-Performance Built Environment Conference – A Sustainable Built Environment Conference 2016 Series (SBE16), iHBE 2016
In this work a multi-story residential building located in Cinisello Balsamo, near Milan, was considered as case study for the application of two new prefabricated building systems for the energy retrofit. The first one, developed within EASEE, a European project funded by 7th Framework Program, consists in a preassembled insulated panel for the retrofit of facades, based on two TRC thin precast layers rigidly connected to an EPS core. The panels can be easily applied on the external side of existing facades without the use of scaffoldings, providing an additional efficient insulation as well a new external cladding. The second one consists in a preassembled timber panel for existing pitched roofs. The process includes the substitution of the existing roof with modular integrated panels with a high content of recycled materials that can be easily fixed on the existing structures (timber frames, concrete, masonry, etc.). The combination of the two prefabricated construction systems, applied on the case study, allowed the reduction of the building energy demand by 82%.

Publications 1 - 10 of 36

Francesco Pittau

Last Name

First Name

ORCID

Organisational unit

Filters

Search Results