Passive strategies for climate change mitigation in architectural heritage: the case study of Santa Maria in Trastevere Basilica, Rome

ABSTRACT

According to the most recent climate projections, urban settings and historic centres will be affected by considerable increases in temperature extremes and heat waves as a result of climate change. For this reason, the issue of energy efficiency and indoor comfort in historic buildings has become a topic of major interest for the significant number of buildings in the national and European territories. The performance redevelopment of architectural heritage, particularly religious buildings, requires accurate design, through a careful assessment of the occupants’ needs and the historic building’s characteristics, to guarantee adequate levels of thermal comfort and ensure an indoor climate suitable for safeguarding the cultural asset. In this regard, the study investigates, through a data-driven approach and building performance analysis, the indoor comfort level of a religious building in the historical centre of Rome that presents phenomena of excessive indoor overheating. The objective is to identify passive cooling strategies, through the optimization of natural ventilation levels and reduction of surface temperatures of the envelope exposed to solar radiation, in order to propose different design scenarios. The results show how a data-driven process in a digital environment can significantly contribute to the identification of optimal and integrated design strategies and solutions.

KEYWORDS:

• Architectural heritage
• climate change
• religious building
• indoor comfort
• passive strategies
• data-driven approach

Acknowledgments

The research presented is the result of the work of Angelo Figliola, Andrea Canducci and Livia Calcagni coordinated by Prof. Alessandra Battisti, within the Department of Planning, Design, Technology of Architecture (PDTA) – Sapienza University of Rome. The authors would like to express their gratitude to Alberto Calenzo for the technical support for this study. Further thanks to Prof. Alfonso Ippolito and the DISDRA Department for architectural survey material.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Roudsari, M.S., LadyBug e Honeybee, http://www.ladybug.tools/.

2 Rutten, D., Grasshopper, version 0.9.0072, http://www.grasshopper.com/.

Additional information

Funding

This research PE05-CHANGES-SPOKE Protection and Conservation of Cultural Heritage against Climate Changes, Natural and Anthropic Risks was funded by EU European Union Found grant number CUP B53C22003780006.