NOvel TImber CompositEs for Energy and seismic Upgrading of Buildings

ended

This research project aims at developing novel timber composite systems for the combined seismic and energy retrofitting of existing building envelopes. Buildings in the European Union (EU) are responsible for 40% of the overall power consumption and 36% of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. Meanwhile, nearly half of the structures in the seismic regions of the EU exhibit substandard seismic resistance, posing a severe threat to life safety and economy. The poor seismic performance of old buildings in the recent earthquakes in Italy and Greece caused significant economic losses, injuries, and loss of human lives. Currently, the annual cost of repair and maintenance of the European building stock is estimated to be approximately 50% of the total construction budget, exceeding €300 billion. Replacing the old buildings with new ones entails considerable financial, environmental, and social cost, which cannot be undertaken; therefore, extending the service life of buildings requires structural upgrade innovations that reduce their seismic vulnerability and boost their energy efficiency at the same time, and in the least expensive and invasive way possible. NOTICE-EUB explores a cost-effective retrofit approach, which combines advanced thermal insulation materials with engineered wood panels to provide simultaneous seismic-plus-energy upgrading. The proposed retrofit concept takes advantage of the high structural performance of the emerging cross-laminated timber (CLT) technology and the superior thermal properties of advanced insulation materials. The research activities comprise experiments on components and a full-scale building specimen to validate the efficiency of the advanced CLT systems, and to provide data for the calibration of numerical models. State-of-the-art analyses will evaluate the economic benefits of the proposed hybrid retrofit scheme. The final stage of the project envisages drafting of retrofit design guidelines and recommendations for the integrated interventions, as a contribution towards the development of new standards for the joint energy upgrading and seismic strengthening of the EU building stock.