Nowadays it is widely shared an increasing attention toward the built heritage, which mainly comprises the historic buildings, but also includes the more modern structures that are often characterized by severe decay, as well. In fact, a new concept of town development, primarily based on life quality, has lately required the refurbishment, retrofitting and preservation of buildings and urban areas, by specific intervention criteria and methodologies, especially whenever historical and architectural values are involved. Within this scenario, the knowledge is a prominent issue. Specifically, the knowledge - i.e. the qualification of historic features, materials and construction techniques, structural and functional modifications, and state of conservation of the building and its components - is the necessary preliminary phase for the assessment of residual performances and, thus, the definition of appropriate refurbishment/maintenance works. It should be underlined that the variety of available investigation approaches and methods requires the knowledge process to be carefully organized, in order to optimize times and techniques, as well as to continuously verify the consistency of the qualification needs with the history, the technical/ technological features, and the state of conservation of the building. In fact, the uncritical application of methods and techniques seldom leads to a satisfying outcome, because data might be meaningless and/or not correlated toward a comprehensive analysis for the design development. Nevertheless, it should be observed that despite the diffuse awareness of basic alteration mechanisms and the wide availability of diagnostic tools, the definition of practices and procedures for diagnostic investigation, according to a multidisciplinary approach, is still challenging, in order to support and guide professionals and operators in the field of building refurbishment. A missing systemic vision generally implies the development of high specialism, which might prevent from the correlation of several investigated aspects. Besides, there are limited normative standards about technical procedures to evaluate the conditions of existing buildings. As a result, it is reasonable to carry out all the possible tests in order to better complete the performance assessment. Finally, since there are limited prescriptions on testing methods, application procedures and data interpretation routines, the investigation to assess the quality of materials and structures is mainly based on discretion, experience and expertise. From the analysis of the methodologies for an investigation programme, the present contribution points out the definition of a knowledge framework as decision making support where choices and expected results are consistent. Particularly, it is possible to review and update the well established structure of a diagnosis and intervention process, with reference to the following macro tasks: Basic Knowledg

Los centros históricos, frecuentemente, resultan excluidos de los programas de recalificación energética, por la presunta dificultad que existe para conciliar las estrategias de adecuación de las prestaciones tecnológicas con los límites de mutabilidad de lo existente bajo el perfil arquitectónico y constructivo, considerando también las implicaciones normativas. De todas formas, es evidente el papel estratégico que el patrimonio histórico construido, por extensión y relevancia, puede y debe desempeñar en la contención de los consumos e impactos, así como en la persecución de un modelo de ciudad sostenible, en el sentido energético, ambiental y cultural. De ello se deriva la necesidad de métodos e instrumentos que, a partir de experiencias consolidadas de evaluación de sostenibilidad en el sector de las construcciones, permitan analizar y dirigir la elección de soluciones adecuadas, según criterios específicos, que consideren, contextualmente a la fiabilidad técnica, la compatibilidad de materiales y construcción, la integración arquitectónica, la congruencia funcional y el balance ambiental de productos y procesos. En este trabajo se analizan concretamente los primeros resultados relacionados con la definición de un protocolo para la evaluación de la sostenibilidad de las medidas de eficiencia energética en los centros históricos, con referencia específica a las soluciones de protección y producción de energía de los componentes de cobertura del edificio. La aplicación del protocolo a casos de estudio representativos de intervenciones de recalificación, muestra flexibilidad e integra la complejidad multinivel de las problemáticas en diferentes escalas.

The traditional Mediterranean architecture shows the balance between nature and human activities, whose conservation has to consider the local characters and the low recovery technologies and lead to the recovery design, by favoring the criterion of minimum intervention. The research has found a complete systematization from the identification of housing types representative of the historical construction materials (calcareous sandstone and stone block) present in Puglia and Basilicata regions. Consequently you can assess the energy and static vulnerability of the pre-consolidation state and identify qualitatively and verify quantitatively the traditional recovery solutions, exportable on similar constructive units present in other environments.

Le tecniche di indagine radar consentono la qualificazione materica e costruttiva delle strutture, attraverso l’analisi della riflessione di onde elettromagnetiche trasmesse in un mezzo, per effetto delle variazioni di costante dielettrica al suo interno. Come tali, negli edifici storici, possono essere impiegate per l’identificazione delle stratigrafie, la localizzazione di vuoti e cavità, la valutazione di disomogeneità e discontinuità, nonché la caratterizzazione di interventi di consolidamento statico. Il presente contributo discute alcune applicazioni delle tecniche radar, con specifico riferimento a un caso di studio, il Palazzo dell’ex-Dogana in Molfetta, Bari, in cui, in ragione di diverse finalità di indagine e condizioni operative, sono state studiate le procedure e le modalità di esecuzione della prova e di elaborazione delle misure, anche in relazione alla disponibilità di informazioni complementari da rilievo geometrico, acquisizioni strumentali e prove distruttive. Sulla base dell’interpretazione dei risultati, vengono sottolineate, quindi, le principali potenzialità e criticità di metodi e strumenti impiegati per la caratterizzazione di murature e volte negli edifici storici.

Although non destructive techniques are mainly used in the restoration of monumental buildings in order to assess the state of conservation and address suitable conservation measures without interfering with the structural integrity, they can be also useful for the identification of the historical and constructional evolution, whereas sources from libraries and archives and/or technical records are limited. The present contribution is going to discuss the application of an integrated system of non destructive techniques on S. Gregory Church in Bari, South Italy. The church, dating back to the XI century AC and located within the medieval fortified city walls, calls attention to some relevant aspects, particularly with reference to pre-existing structures, constructional transformations and previous restoration works. Specifically, based on historical research, mapping of materials/construction techniques and survey of cracking/moisture patterns, an investigation program was addressed, comprising sonic and ultrasonic testing, thermography and radar scanning. The analysis of experimental results, correlated with the historical and technical documentation, enabled a more detailed and reliable qualification of the evolution of the church, with specific attention towards structural components under the flooring, morphology and compactness of cavity walls, previous reinforcement techniques, as well as damage patterns on walls and columns and moisture patterns on a fresco. Furthermore, the importance of the results for the definition of future conservation and control strategies is discussed.

The present work, developed within the research project HPWalls (High Performance Wall Systems), aims to perform an experimental research on lightweight cementitious mortars containing recycled aggregates from the production process of the EPS (Expanded Polystyrene). The recycling of an industrial waste and its transforming in a new second raw material can be considered as an important strategy to reduce industrial waste flows and minimize the consumption of new resources and energy. Furthermore, the widespread use of plastics in the building field, in particular EPS, requires new approaches for the improvement of their environmental impact, in terms of productive process- with the optimization of the industrial process and the minimization of the sub-products- as well as in terms of life end strategies. That waste can represent an efficient tool for local enterprises and technical experts dealing with characterization and mix design applied to recycling materials. As a consequence, the project aims to assess the characteristics of that waste (light weight, low thermal conductivity, low density, high availability) in order to define a new competitive building material characterized by high technical performances and low impact manufacturing process. The mixtures, prepared starting from the percentages of raw materials defined according to the norms for standardized mortar, have taken into account the partial/total substitution of fine aggregate (sand) with recycled EPS with different grain size distributions. The specimens were analyzed starting from the workability of the raw blends and the mechanical strengths; the thermal properties (thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity) were measured while hygric and acoustic properties measurements are currently under development.

Materials naturally undergo physical and performance decay, which becomes pathological, whenever the development is abrupt and rapid and the extent is substantial, due to inner defects and outer disturbing factors, rather than inherent ageing. Design and construction defects, as well as missing and poor maintenance, might be responsible for speeding up the physiological decay and, thus, requiring repair and refurbishment measures. As far as the mixed structure buildings of the early XX century are concerned, a preliminary analysis points out that construction systems were characterized by several techniques and solutions, which were developed in a very short time. In fact, at that time, an overall transformation occurred following the Industrial Revolution. As a consequence, in the building sector, traditional materials and components were progressively combined and/or replaced with modern ones. Owing to the increase of scientific studies and industrial patents about products and processes, the new technological solutions showed increasing complexity and variety. Moreover, they were developed, regardless the traditional analysis of the whole building. As a result, the connections among different sub-systems were neglected, leading to potential critical points. The analysis of more than 110 housing buildings in Puglia and Basilicata Regions (South Italy), dating back to 1900-1940, was carried out. First, it comprised the research on technical handbooks of that period [Breymann, G.A., 1885; Koniger O., 1902; Levi, C., 1907; Donghi, 1906]; the historical, technical and typological classification of buildings and; the identification of construction materials and structural technologies (at building and component scale). Then, it focused on all the mixed structure typologies (including some sub-typologies), in terms of definition of possible critical points for decay development and possible pathological alterations, connected with obsolescence processes [De Tommasi G. and Fatiguso F., 2008]. Specifically, physical obsolescence was mainly analysed from the observation of decay and deterioration in materials and components, as well as pathology patterns. Such an obsolescence seemed the result of a very peculiar occurrence, namely the combination of traditional and innovative materials, generally showing poor compatibility and the unawareness of actual performances of new systems by the early XX century designers and builders. It was observed that physiological and pathological ageing simultaneously occur and affect each other, causing reduced service life and functionality of building components and sub-systems. As a result, they are not always easy to differentiate. The present contribution is going to discuss the results of the above mentioned analysis, with specific reference to slabs and staircases, where mixed structure solutions were thoroughly applied.

Energy assessment and retrofitting of Mediterranean historical buildings require a multi-scale and multi-disciplinary approach, involving several integrated and correlated aspects. Among them: environmental and typological features of the settlement, historical-cultural values and technical-technological performances of construction materials and components, transformation boundaries of the architectural envelope, demand for consumption and emission savings and indoor comfort. The paper is going to focus on the abovementioned aspects, also by presenting some research results on historical sea towns in the province of Bari, in order to identify suitable methods, tools and solutions, which might address conservation of the original identity and quality, as well as potential transformation toward higher performance levels

Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA) is a parametric analysis method that allows evaluating the structural performance under seismic loads more accurately than traditional static and dynamic analyses. With respect to a single non-linear analysis, the incremental dynamic analysis has the advantage to evaluate the structural performance under different levels of intensity, scaling proper ground motion records, until the structure collapses or until a fixed level of deformation is reached. In this study the potentialities of incremental dynamic analysis have been investigated in identifying the damaged elements in existing irregular r.c. buildings and a comparison with the results of static Pushover Analyses has been performed. In particular a strongly irregular building has been considered, representative of a particular manufacture and of an historical period of economic growth and speculation; it has not structural problems but suffers from abandonment and weathering effects. An interpretation of IDA procedure has been proposed, with the set of a mean IDA capacity curve, then bi-linearized in order to close the pushover procedure according to the extended N2 method. The aim is to underline in a specific case study how the choice of a methodology can affect the definition of recovery interventions, especially in the case of historical buildings, where the criterion of minimum intervention should be followed in order to preserve the original features.

The investigation and conservation of artificial stone facades, realized between the late XIX and the early XX century, have recently gained increasing attention, due to different reasons: on the one hand, the interest in documenting the architectural and technical characteristics of a relevant phase in the evolution of the building technology, whose historical and cultural values are commonly recognized; and, on the other hand, the need to deal thoroughly with the occurring alterations and pathologies. Particularly, the diagnostic process, although based on well established procedures and techniques for natural stone, should be carefully planned for artificial stone components, which show specific features, in terms of mixtures, installation and connection methods, interaction mechanisms with reinforcement and support materials. As a result, the definition of a correlated system of onsite tests and laboratory analyses is paramount, in order to come to a comprehensive qualification of materials, construction techniques and state of conservation, also by saving time and money. Specifically, the paper is going to describe a general investigation methodology for artificial stone facades, realized between the XIX and XX centuries, in terms of selection and correlation criteria of diagnostic techniques. The methodology has been applied to a case study, the social housing complex ‘‘Duca degli Abruzzi’’ in Bari, South Italy, that is particularly representative for construction history, extent and variety of ornamental elements, environmental factors and utilization conditions. The results from the characterization of mixtures, construction techniques and decay patterns have allowed the definition of compatible and suitable conservation measures.

Cement based conglomerate light-weighted by recycled EPS which makes the compound lighter and highly insulating. The mixture is featured by the partial replacement of sand parts/fractions with corresponding recycled EPS parts. The mixture can be used also for construction of structural components, featured by lightness, sustainability and improvement of thermal properties.

Partially prefabricated system of opaque vertical clamping, structural and not, equipped with thermal insulation and armature. The system is constituted by a disposable formwork provided by means of two panels in the conglomerate to which are made integral two additional panels to high thermal performance in EPS, with contoured surface structure. The panels are connected together by horizontal transverse connections, to form a cavity containing an armature arranged in the establishment, adapted to accommodate a concrete casting (or equivalent) in work that may also provide for the use of innovative materials. The so-configured panels, they become an integral part of the vertical clamping system; the jet of completion, to be carried out in situ, connects between their walls arranged in both longitudinal and transverse direction, helping to create a single integrated structure. The system is designed to be able to withstand suitably the vertical and horizontal stresses of seismic type and to be be equipped.

B.Re.D. srl valorizza in modo imprenditoriale, in contesti innovativi, i risultati di ricerche condotte presso il Politecnico di Bari sviluppando nuovi prodotti e servizi. Per tali finalità, la Società si occupa di: progettare e/o condurre indagini sulle caratteristiche materiche, costruttive, tecniche e tecnologiche di edifici esistenti; indagini dello stato di conservazione di edifici esistenti; condurre attività di misura e monitoraggio di parametri in edifici esistenti; fornire servizi per la diagnostica in sito e/o in laboratorio su materiali e componenti del patrimonio costruito; servizi per l'analisi di patologie e dissesti in edifici esistenti, per la progettazione, realizzazione e sperimentazione di materiali innovativi per il recupero di edifici esistenti. B.Re.D., inoltre, impiega droni multirotore a supporto delle proprie attività di indagine e rilievo, essendo autorizzata dall'Ente Nazionale per l'Aviazione Civile (ENAC APR No. 8969) ad operare con Sistemi Aerei a Pilotaggio Remoto nell'ambito di operazioni critiche anche in aree urbane.