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Synergies between Seismic, Energy and Environmental Performance in the Assessment...
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Synergies between Seismic, Energy and Environmental Performance in the Assessment and Retrofitting of Buildings

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Energy, Physics, Environment, and Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2023) | Viewed by 11922

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Anastasios Tsiavos

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Guest Editor
Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
Interests: performance-based seismic design; seismic isolation; earthquake engineering
Prof. Dr. Ricardo Monteiro

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Guest Editor
University School for Advanced Studies IUSS Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Interests: seismic risk of RC buildings and bridges; seismic loss estimation; assessment and retrofitting of existing structures
Prof. Dr. Rita Bento

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Guest Editor
CERIS, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: seismic vulnerability assessment; masonry buildings; reinforced concrete buildings; protection of cultural heritage; strengthening; structural testing; nonlinear modelling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to provide a research forum for presenting and discussing recent findings and developments in integrated or combined assessment and retrofitting of existing buildings, considering the synergy between their seismic behaviour, their energy performance, and their environmental impact.

Many buildings in Europe and worldwide do not comply with modern seismic code provisions and are energy deficient. Depending on the location and combination of seismicity and climate, the investment required for retrofitting these buildings cannot be easily justified based on the benefit obtained through their seismic risk reduction or energy performance improvement alone. Moreover, several seismic structural retrofit solutions are characterised by high costs and carbon emissions. Therefore, there is an ever-growing need for holistic and synergetic approaches in assessing and retrofitting buildings, considering their seismic behaviour, energy performance, and associated environmental impact.

The aim of this Special Issue is thus to attract leading research groups presenting the state of the art in this field, favouring the dissemination of their findings, related to the analytical, numerical, or experimental investigation of synergetic assessment methods or retrofitting strategies towards the development of sustainable and resilient communities.

Dr. Anastasios Tsiavos
Prof. Dr. Ricardo Monteiro
Prof. Dr. Rita Bento
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • synergetic assessment methods
  • synergetic retrofitting strategies
  • seismic vulnerability and seismic risk
  • energy performance
  • carbon footprint
  • masonry Buildings
  • life-cycle assessment
  • performance-based design and assessment
  • RC buildings

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 6937 KiB  
Article
Assessment of Integrated Solutions for the Combined Energy Efficiency Improvement and Seismic Strengthening of Existing URM Buildings
by Maria-Victoria Requena-Garcia-Cruz, Julia Díaz-Borrego, Emilio Romero-Sánchez, Antonio Morales-Esteban and Miguel-Angel Campano
Buildings 2022, 12(8), 1276; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12081276 - 20 Aug 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1909
Abstract
The European building stock is an aging infrastructure, mainly built prior to building codes. Furthermore, 65% of these buildings are located in seismic regions, which need to be both energetic and seismically retrofitted to comply with performance targets. Given this, this manuscript presents [...] Read more.
The European building stock is an aging infrastructure, mainly built prior to building codes. Furthermore, 65% of these buildings are located in seismic regions, which need to be both energetic and seismically retrofitted to comply with performance targets. Given this, this manuscript presents integrated constructive solutions that combine both energy efficiency improvement and seismic strengthening. The goal and novelty is to design and to evaluate one-shot, compatible, noninvasive, and complementary solutions applied to the façades of buildings with a minimum cost. To do so, different constraints have been borne in mind: the urban environment, achievable seismic and energy performance targets, and reduced construction costs. The method was applied to an old Spanish neighbourhood constructed in the 1960s. Different retrofitting packages were proposed for an unreinforced masonry case study building. A sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the effects of each configuration. A benefit/cost ratio was proposed to comparatively assess and to rank the solutions. The results of the seismoenergetic performance assessment showed that improving the behaviour of walls leads to higher benefit ratios than improving the openings. However, this latter strategy generates much lower construction costs. Integrating seismic into energetic retrofitting solutions supposes negligible additional costs but can improve the seismic behaviour of buildings by up to 240%. The optimal solution was the addition of higher ratios of steel grids and intermediate profiles in openings while adding thermal insulation in walls and renovating the window frames with PVC and standard 4/6/4 double glazing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synergies between Seismic, Energy and Environmental Performance in the Assessment and Retrofitting of Buildings)
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19 pages, 4565 KiB  
Article
Optimization of Synergetic Seismic and Energy Retrofitting Based on Timber Beams and Bio-Based Infill Panels: Application to an Existing Masonry Building in Switzerland
by Simon Sanchez Zuluaga, Stylianos Kallioras and Anastasios Tsiavos
Buildings 2022, 12(8), 1126; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12081126 - 29 Jul 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2390
Abstract
This paper presents an optimization process for the design of a novel synergetic seismic and energy retrofitting strategy that combines the favorable mechanical properties of timber and the attractive thermal insulation properties of bio-based materials. The novel method, defined as Strong Thermal and [...] Read more.
This paper presents an optimization process for the design of a novel synergetic seismic and energy retrofitting strategy that combines the favorable mechanical properties of timber and the attractive thermal insulation properties of bio-based materials. The novel method, defined as Strong Thermal and Seismic Backs (STSB), comprises the attachment of timber frames and bio-based thermal insulation panels on the vertical envelope and the facade walls of existing masonry buildings, thus improving both the seismic behavior and the energy performance of these buildings. This strategy is integrated and visualized in a novel synergetic framework for the holistic evaluation of the seismic behavior, the energy performance and the carbon footprint of existing buildings, defined as the Seismic and Energy Retrofitting Scoreboard (SERS). The benefit of the novel retrofitting strategy is quantified based on the numerical simulation of the seismic behavior of an unreinforced masonry building located in Switzerland, an assessment of the energy performance of the building and an evaluation of the carbon footprint of the proposed retrofit solution. Three retrofitting alternatives are investigated for the synergetic seismic and energy retrofitting of the building, comprising timber beams and two different bio-based materials for the thermal insulation of the vertical envelope of the building: cork and recycled natural grass. The optimal seismic and energy retrofitting strategy for the building among the alternatives assessed in this study is chosen based on a Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) procedure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synergies between Seismic, Energy and Environmental Performance in the Assessment and Retrofitting of Buildings)
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23 pages, 5124 KiB  
Article
The Role of Life Cycle Structural Engineering in the Transition towards a Sustainable Building Renovation: Available Tools and Research Needs
by Chiara Passoni, Martina Caruso, Alessandra Marini, Rui Pinho and Raffaele Landolfo
Buildings 2022, 12(8), 1107; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12081107 - 27 Jul 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2510
Abstract
Given the current climate emergency and the ambitious targets of carbon emissions reduction, retrofitting strategies on existing buildings typically include reducing energy demand, decarbonising the power supply, and addressing embodied carbon stored in materials. This latter point redefines the role of engineers in [...] Read more.
Given the current climate emergency and the ambitious targets of carbon emissions reduction, retrofitting strategies on existing buildings typically include reducing energy demand, decarbonising the power supply, and addressing embodied carbon stored in materials. This latter point redefines the role of engineers in the transitions towards a sustainable construction sector, being they responsible for designing low impact, sustainable and carbon neutral solutions. A Life Cycle Structural Engineering (LCSE) approach, inspired by the principles of Life Cycle Thinking (LCT), should thus be adopted for the sustainable renovation of existing buildings. Only recently have pioneering approaches been proposed, tackling multifaceted buildings’ needs, such as those related to energy consumption as well as seismic safety, but often disregarding LCT principles. This study presents a redefinition of the concept of LCSE for sustainable construction and a comprehensive review of available methods and tools to operationalise the LCSE approach in practice, focusing on the consideration of LCT principles in the retrofitting design process, integration of seismic loss estimation and environmental impact assessment, and implementation of integrated retrofitting strategies. The greatest ambition of this work is thus to boost a paradigm shift for building engineers towards an interdisciplinary perspective in building assessment and retrofitting. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synergies between Seismic, Energy and Environmental Performance in the Assessment and Retrofitting of Buildings)
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28 pages, 5503 KiB  
Article
Seismic Resilience Assessment in Optimally Integrated Retrofitting of Existing School Buildings in Italy
by Wilson Wladimir Carofilis Gallo, Nicholas Clemett, Giammaria Gabbianelli, Gerard O’Reilly and Ricardo Monteiro
Buildings 2022, 12(6), 845; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12060845 - 16 Jun 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3778
Abstract
Modern society requires that structures exhibit greater levels of resilience, especially under earthquakes. The seismic resilience of buildings is thus gaining increased attention as a particular, beyond-code approach. Seismically retrofitted buildings behave satisfactorily under expected earthquake scenarios; however, this does not guarantee operativity [...] Read more.
Modern society requires that structures exhibit greater levels of resilience, especially under earthquakes. The seismic resilience of buildings is thus gaining increased attention as a particular, beyond-code approach. Seismically retrofitted buildings behave satisfactorily under expected earthquake scenarios; however, this does not guarantee operativity after a seismic event. This study critically reviews several methods currently available in the literature that quantify the seismic resilience level of buildings from different perspectives. An existing reinforced concrete school building, retrofitted according to four distinct strategies, is first evaluated in terms of seismic resilience levels. The overview and critical analysis of available resilience assessment frameworks determine the most suitable parameters to measure the seismic resilience for buildings. Subsequently, this metric is incorporated as an additional decision variable into an integrated seismic and energy retrofitting set of strategies. A multicriteria decision-making analysis is performed to select the optimally combined seismic and energy retrofitting alternative under social, technical, environmental evaluation, and seismic resilience aspects. We show how resilience impacts the preference for integrated seismic and energy retrofitting strategies, especially when this metric is considered as an annualized expected value. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synergies between Seismic, Energy and Environmental Performance in the Assessment and Retrofitting of Buildings)
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