The SupERB project has the following nine (9) work packages (WP):
WP 1 Project Management
WP 2 Dissemination Activities
WP 3 Investigation of mechanical and thermal properties of available materials
WP 4 Establishment of criteria for target performance level
WP 5 Laboratory-based design and testing of the PCM related upgrading system
WP 6 Testing of the upgrading system for seismic and energy performance evaluation
WP 7 Optimisation and upgrading methodology development
WP 8 Application study
WP 9 Software development and methodology guidelines
The main objectives and activities for each WP are described below:
WP1 PROJECT MANAGEMENT
The objective of this WP is the planning and allocation of the project’s activities through the consortium and the monitoring of the project’s progress. It also includes constant communication between the participating partners and the preparation of the Interim & Final Project Progress Reports. Additionally, the financial administration of the project based on the guidelines described in the “RESTART 2016-2020 Programmes: Work Programme Document” of the Research Promotion Foundation will take place in this WP.
WP2 DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES
The main aim of the present WP is to ensure the widest possible dissemination of project results and their exploitation by the partners and the scientific and technical community in general. The dissemination will be mainly done by submissions in open access journals and presentation to an international conference. Also a technical open seminar will take place in Cyprus at the end of the project to present the findings of the project to the local interested parties including construction/renovation firms, civil engineers, energy inspectors etc. Furthermore in the project’s website the main results and related announcements will be published.
WP 3 INVESTIGATION OF MECHANICAL AND THERMAL PROPERTIES OF AVAILABLE MATERIALS
The aim of the current WP is to identify and investigate through review of the related subjects, the materials and techniques that will be used for the development of the integrated approach for upgrading the seismic and energy performance of existing buildings. Regarding the energy performance, traditional thermal insulation materials and phase change material (PCM) will be explored in terms of performance and cost. Regarding seismic upgrading, the textile reinforced mortar (TRM) strengthening technique will be investigated. Finally the parameters that influence the efficiency of the combined upgrading system and can be employed in the optimisation procedure of WP7 will be identified. Finally, a review of the current policies that set the seismic and energy performance requirements will complete the tasks of this WP.
WP4 ESTABLISHMENT OF CRITERIA FOR TARGET PERFORMANCE LEVEL
In this WP the parameters affecting the performance of existing buildings identified in WP3 will be used to develop assessment criteria for the evaluation of the seismic and energy performance of buildings. These criteria will facilitate the assessment of the small-scale models that will be tested in WP5 for developing a PCM based system, and of the full-scale models that will be tested in WP6 for assessing both traditional and innovative insulating materials.
WP 5 LABORATORY-BASED DESIGN AND TESTING OF THE PCM RELATED UPGRADING SYSTEM
In WP5, the PCM based upgrading system will be developed. The starting activities include testing for the establishment of the appropriate mortar-PCM mixtures with suitable thermal and mechanical properties. For stone masonry lime mortar is considered whereas for the infill RC frames cementitious mortar is more suitable. Upon establishing the appropriate mixture of PCM enhanced mortars the focus will turn into creating a suitable system by combination with TRM. Many tests will be performed on wallettes constructed with different combinations of fibres, textile layers etc, in order to quantify the amount of the provided strengthening and identify the best practice for each of the two proposed methodologies using the assessment criteria developed in WP4.
WP 6 TESTING OF THE UPGRADING SYSTEM FOR SEISMIC AND ENERGY PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
In this WP full-scale testing will take place. At the start, similarly to the concept of WP5, small scale testing on wallettes covered with traditional insulating material (e.g. polystyrene) will reveal their mechanical properties. These tests will be followed by the construction of full-scale load-bearing masonry walls and infilled RC frames, which will be subjected to cyclic-loading. Both structural systems will be strengthened with TRM in combination with either PCM or traditional insulating material. Their performance will be assessed using the assessment criteria developed in WP4. In addition, the performance of the two insulation options will be assessed using two rooms with criteria such as the power consumption etc.
WP7 OPTIMISATION AND UPGRADING METHODOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
In this WP a multi-objective optimisation methodology will be developed to identify an optimum solution between traditional insulating material and the innovative material in terms of energy efficiency, seismic resistance and cost. Due to the complexity of the optimisation process the use of evolutionary techniques (i.e. Genetic Algorithms) is imposed. The parameters/criteria that will be used in the development of the multi-objective methodology will be collected from WP3.
WP8 APPLICATION STUDY
The developed upgrading methodology will be evaluated in terms of practicality and energy improvement on real buildings, one for each structural system. The selected building must be energy inefficient and seismically vulnerable; the methodology will be used to produce an upgrading system to improve its overall performance but on this real scenario, only the energy performance will be evaluated. The upgrading system will be based on the use of PCM and TRM.
WP9 SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT AND METHODOLOGY GUIDELINES
The aim of this WP is to develop software featuring simple and clear execution steps that will assist the interested parties in the upgrading of a building’s performance. The software will feature a GIS tool so that the geographical location of any examined building is considered. Also the optimisation tool of WP7 will be included to tailor the design based on the cost and performance targets set by the user or owner. The basis of the software will be the developed integrated approach, which will be incorporated in the software in order to propose the most efficient upgrading system for a given structure. In addition, methodology guidelines will be developed for a possible use by the policy-making partners of the consortium.