Barbara Gherri
@unipr.it
Department of Engineering and Architecture
University of Parma
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Microclimate assessment
Climate change architecture
Outdoor comfort
Urban thermal resilicence
Daylighting architecture
Building retrofit
Scopus Publications
Scholar Citations
Scholar h-index
Scholar i10-index
Scopus Publications
Barbara Gherri, Sara Matoti, and Federica Morselli
Springer Nature Switzerland
Emanuele Naboni, Marcello Turrini, and Barbara Gherri
Springer Nature Singapore
Barbara Gherri
Springer Nature Singapore
Marco Maretto, Barbara Gherri, Daniela Maiullari, Chiara Vernizzi, Greta Pitanti, Chiara Finizza, and Alice Monacelli
MDPI AG
A city is an organism made of social, economic, cultural, and environmental fabrics, the interactions of which determine the form and functioning of city life. Different disciplines are then involved in analyzing the complex processes of the 21st-century city. The aim of this study was to explore the use of an analytical method that can act as a catalyst for the main players involved in the environmental urban morphology (EUM). This multidisciplinary methodology focuses on the study of public space in dense urban fabrics as a key context for understanding a city. Operationally, the work shows the potential of integrating morphological analysis, pedestrian flow analysis, and environmental analysis and applying them in dense and compact urban fabrics. The first of these analyses methods was carried out using urban survey tools and the geographic information system (GIS) in order to detect the physical forms of the city and develop a number of morphological maps. The second, using the global positioning system (GPS) and on-site detectors, maps pedestrian movement within public spaces. The latter mainly focuses on the microclimatic analysis of public spaces and outdoor comfort, carried out using environmental software such as ENVI-met (4.4 version). The ultimate goal of this study was to achieve the definition of a dynamic, multidisciplinary, and multilayer methodology for the analysis of dense urban fabrics which we believe could be very useful for addressing the regenerative processes of the contemporary city.
Barbara Gherri
MDPI AG
With growing global concerns about climate change, the significance of urban greenery in architecture and urban planning is becoming increasingly apparent. Urban vegetation naturally cools cities, provides comfort and clean air, and has positive social, health, and economic effects. It is essential to ensure passive thermal comfort and safeguard biodiversity. It is widely recognized that urban greenery not only withstands severe outdoor climatic events, but also symbiotically interacts with buildings and citizens. Several studies demonstrated the potential of vegetation to provide outdoor thermal comfort, air purification, noise reduction, and various other ecosystem services. To emphasize the potential of urban green spaces to interact with the local urban morphology in terms of microclimatic aspects, the research examines the dynamic connection between various urban textures and urban green spaces. This study emphasizes how urban green spaces, such as parks, green spaces, and urban greenery, respond to temperature variations in both the present scenario and the projected future. Central to this contribution is the examination of the relationship between urban vegetation and its potential to reduce and counteract urban overheating in both current and projected future scenarios. The aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of urban vegetation compared to dense urban textures. The interaction between urban block morphology, building types, vegetation, and microclimates is presented here for comparative assessment, highlighting the different thermal behaviour and outdoor comfort responses in various urban areas in current and projected scenarios. Using a microclimatic simulation tool, the research will delve deeper into the potential and constraints associated with the role of urban greens in addressing the increasing temperatures in climate change. This paper presents a comparative microclimatic evaluation of two selected green areas in Parma, Italy, within different urban contexts. The evaluation compares the current situation with a projected future scenario (2050) to determine the most effective factors for mitigating overheating phenomena in existing cities.
Emanuele Naboni, Rossella Siani, Marcello Turrini, Elefteria Touloupaki, Barbara Gherri, and Francesco De Luca
IOP Publishing
Abstract Climate change impacts biodiversity, the use of public spaces, as well as building energy demand, and health in Mediterranean cities. The courtyard is a common typology of private/public open space in the area, which, according to previous research, is substantially affected by climate change. The main reasons are to be found in limited ventilation and the significant amount of radiation received by upper surfaces. A preliminary microclimate, simulation-based evaluation of mitigation strategies to adapt and capitalize on climate changes is here performed through the assessment of a series of analyses using reference year 2020 and 2080. The study addresses a representative courtyard, San Sepolcro cloister (Parma, Italy). One mitigation strategy is explored, limiting direct solar radiation. The shading system, which reduces solar radiation, arises from a process of morphogenesis based on solar parameters and exploits a strategy with vertical structures typical of some cacti, following the biomimicry approach of imitating natural strategies. In this case, the imitation regards both form and function, as well as the generative process. The research was conducted through parametric and generative design in Rhino-Grasshopper and environmental analysis in ENVI-Met. The Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) was the reference index for the assessment of thermal comfort. The shading system allows for improving thermal comfort, through protection from the sun’s rays and the non-obstruction of the vertical ventilation of the courtyard.
Barbara Gherri, Daniela Maiullari, Chiara Finizza, Marco Maretto, and Emanuele Naboni
MDPI AG
Venice is known for its urban heritage fragility. The city is experiencing an increase in yearly average temperatures affecting outdoor–indoor comfort and average energy expenditure. Owing to existing literature demonstrating how local microclimate depends on urban density, form, and materials, this investigation studies the influence of the changing local climate on Venetian vernacular open spaces, known as Campi. Based on the comparison of contemporary weather and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) future predictions for the 2050 scenario, this investigation highlights how Campi’s open spaces and the surrounding buildings, canals, and green public areas contribute to building climate resilience. By employing advanced modelling, the study analyses microclimate and outdoor comfort with respect to users’ perception of Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET). The ENVI-met tool is used to simulate the thermal behaviour of two representative Campi: SS. Giovanni e Paolo and S. Polo. Despite significant temperature growths, Venetian urban fabric characteristics seem to play a crucial role in strengthening the climate resilience of open spaces, thus preserving outdoor comfort quality in a warmer future. The analysis shows how the historical matrix of open spaces and buildings cooperate. Thus, this study offers a contribution to how built heritage should be considered in light of climate change.
D Maiullari, B Gherri, C Finizza, M Maretto, and E Naboni
IOP Publishing
Abstract Although the influence of urban form on microclimate and building thermal processes has been acknowledged, few studies have addressed the influence of overheating mechanisms on heterogeneous urban fabrics for existing historical cities. This study investigates the impact of changing urban climate on indoor temperatures by focusing on three Venice morphological patterns. Through microclimate modelling techniques, outdoor and indoor temperatures are simulated in 2020 and 2050 scenarios. Results show that the compactness of the urban fabric contributes to reducing indoor building temperatures. The analysis suggests that the increased density of shadow areas can mitigate the outdoor temperature values and reduce direct radiation on façades. When comparing the two climate scenarios 2020 and 2050, average indoor temperatures increase in the latter. However, the analysis highlights that the absence of insulation and the relatively high thermal mass of typical Venetian envelopes plays a crucial role in the building thermal processes preserving indoor comfort in a warmer climate future.
B Gherri, D Maiullari, C Finizza, M Maretto, and E Naboni
IOP Publishing
Venice is known for its history and beauty and its fragility and potential demise. The city is experiencing an increase in yearly average temperatures affecting outdoor - indoor comfort and average energy expenditure. Owing to existing literature demonstrating how local microclimate depends on urban density, shape, and orientation of buildings and materials, the work studies the influence of changing Venice temperatures by targeting such issues, focusing on an urban fabric typical form, known as Campi. Based on IPCC’s future weather predictions for 2050 scenario A1B, the work highlights how the urban fabric configuration affects the local microclimate and outdoor conditions to define how buildings will mitigate and adapt to environmental transitions. The method couples microclimate and outdoor comfort users’ perception of Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET), via ENVI-met. Preliminary results show that the compactness of the urban fabric in Venetian Campi significantly reduces outdoor temperatures due to the increased density of shadow areas in the courtyard or in narrow Venice streets. The role of water is also simulated via ENVI-met, as buildings’ materials and indoor energy consumption are assumed as invariant to evaluate the historic urban fabric climate resilience. The results constitute a first step towards understanding to what extent a particular urban fabric type is thermally resilient.
D Ferretti, B Gherri, and E Michelini
IOP Publishing
This paper aims to provide a proper set of eco-mechanical indexes to evaluate both the mechanical performances and the environmental features of autoclaved aerated concrete blocks. To this purpose, a detailed review of existing sustainability indexes – originally developed for concrete – is first presented, and subsequently different possible eco-mechanical indexes are specifically developed for autoclaved aerated concrete masonry blocks, also in order to compare their performances with those of lightweight aggregate concrete blocks. The obtained results highlight that, based on currently available information, only few parameters appear to be effective in defining the overall sustainability performances of AAC blocks. While several researches were indeed carried out in these last years regarding material structural properties, there is still a lack of environmental data, which should be necessarily deepened in future research work to obtain more reliable results.
Barbara Gherri, Chiara Cavagliano, and Samuele Orsi
IOP Publishing
The paper aims at investigating the most suitable Energy Saving Measures –ESMs– for the retrofitting of Social Housing Stock –SHS– in Europe. A global awareness has been increasing, as well as education and training among architects and building sectors employees, in order to identify tailored financing schemes and advanced integrated retrofitting solutions. Several European financed programmes have been tested so far and the results are here summarized and deeply investigated in order to increase the energy performance of social housing buildings, to improve knowledge of problems associated with the retrofitting of these households, in order to provide the most appropriate solutions to be applied. Afterward, the best practices selected have been applied to some study cases in Italy, to demonstrate that the large variety of SH programmes in Europe can seriously be used, promoting the best practises’ application. A lot of theoretical and analytical work has been carried out by many European projects in the last decade, defining different approaches according to typologies of social housing buildings, focusing on national or regional regulation, on existing typologies and building techniques, on retrofitting solutions, on energy saving strategies and other managing approaches and energy saving devices. Due to the high participation of social housing organisations –SHO– and related European financed programmes, this academic research is focused on the most effective ESMs in order to encompass a large variety of needs and related solutions, even though some of them are still on course and other ones have already been completed. This research clearly demonstrates the valuable contribution these kinds of programme have in exchanging and sharing of knowledge and experience in the field of retrofit of Social Housing building across Europe, in order to primary improve the energy performance of the existing building stock and the quality of life of their inhabitants.
Eva Coisson, Sandro Del Lesto, and Barbara Gherri
Elsevier BV