SER4SC 2018: Seismic and Energy Renovation for Sustainable Cities Catania, Italy, February 1-3, 2018 |
Conference website | http://www.ser2018.org/ |
Submission link | https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ser4sc2018 |
Abstract registration deadline | August 31, 2017 |
Submission deadline | October 15, 2017 |
Focus
Sustainability has become a fundamental requirement for the future of our cities.
This requirement is mostly associated to environmental issues, and a great effort has been made in the past years to build a low-carbon society. However, sustainability should also be associated to safety.
As a consequence, in seismic countries, sustainable cities must be not only low-carbon emitting bust also earthquake safe.
This concept represents the basic premise of this Conference.
According to this premise, in seismic nations like Italy – where over 75% of the building stock is both highly earthquake-prone and energy-consuming – energy renovation actions should be combined with seismic upgrades. This assumption has to be promoted for the following main reasons: energy renovation alone will be worthless if an earthquake destroys the building; to prevent life losses and damages; to avoid several costs otherwise duplicated (costs for building-site setup and scaffolds, claddings, plasters and other finishings, etc.).
Nevertheless, many barriers significantly limit the real possibility to undertake combined retrofit measures, especially in case of multi-owner housing and high-rise buildings. These barriers are of different kinds: economic/financial (high renovation costs, insufficient incentives and subsidies, landlord-tenant dilemma, etc.), technical (ineffectiveness of conventional upgrade solutions, need of regulatory simplification, etc.), organizational (temporary alternate accommodation for occupants, consensus to the retrofit expenditure by condominium ownerships, excessive time for getting construction permits, etc.), and cultural/social (insufficient information and skills, lack of adequate policy measures for promoting renovation actions).
This Conference aims to overcome these barriers and to bridge the gap between sustainability and safety, with a link that may conserve both human and environmental resources.
Submission Guidelines
Abstract Guidelines
Abstract must be written in English language.
To submit an abstract (maximum 300 words), please use the Easy Chair web platform. Corresponding authors must open an account, login and upload the file. There is no rule for the file name, since the system assigns automatically a new name.
If the same corresponding author is submitting more than one abstract, he can use the same login for each submission.
After the review process, authors will receive the final confirmation of paper acceptance (see Important Dates).
Papers Guidelines and Submission
Paper must be written in English language. Presentation of the contribution at the conference must be in English language.
Please click here to download the Paper template in MS Word format (download will be available soon).
To submit a paper, please use the Easy Chair web platform. The paper file must be smaller than 20 Mb. There is no rule for the file name, since the system assigns automatically a new name.
After the review process, authors will receive the final confirmation of paper acceptance (see Important Dates).
Please note that at least one author must register in full to attend and present the paper at the Conference.
The author, by submitting a paper for the conference, is guaranteeing that the work submitted is original and has not been previously published.
List of Topics
1. Urban vulnerability and sustainable cities
Sustainability and safety of cities. Description of the vulnerability and/or energy performance scenario of any region or town. Tools and methods for assessing the urban vulnerability to natural hazards and for determining the scale of intervention to adequately reduce this vulnerability. Cost evaluation for the improvement of the urban resilience to natural hazards. Scenarios of possible financial incentives.
2. Seismic and energy regeneration strategies at district and urban scale
Urban regeneration strategies for the reduction of seismic vulnerability and/or energy dependence. Integrated land use and transport planning to reduce energy consumption due to private means of transportation.
3. Construction techniques of historic and recent buildings
Description of construction techniques adopted for historic buildings (i.e. built before 1950) and recent buildings (i.e. built from the 1950s to the 1980s). Relationships between construction techniques and seismic or energy performance of buildings.
4. Diagnostic techniques and numerical models to assess seismic vulnerability and energy performance
Development of novel diagnostic techniques and numerical models to determine the seismic vulnerability and/or the energy performance of historic and/or recent buildings.
5. Technical solutions, materials and methods for seismic and energy renovation
Technical solutions, materials and methods for the seismic and/or energy renovation of historic and/or recent buildings.
6. Retrofit optimization through prefabricated systems
Development of prefabricated systems to accelerate seismic and/or energy renovation activities, in order to reduce costs and inconvenience to the occupants.
7. Design, monitoring and management tools
Novel tools for design, monitoring and management of existing buildings (e.g BIM, parametric design, form finding, sensor grids, building management systems, etc.), with particular reference to renovation and post-renovation activities.
8. Economic and financial policies to promote renovation measures
Economic and financial tools, measures and policies to promote renovation activities.
9. Decision support tools for the selection of the optimal retrofitting scenario
Development of user-friendly decision support tools to select the best seismic and/or energy renovation scenario, in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, costs, available incentives and subsidizes, safety, inconvenience to the occupants, etc.
10. Resolution of organizational and practical problems
Strategies to overcome different organizational and practical problems, which considerably limit the real possibility to undertake retrofit actions, especially for multi-owner housing and high-rise buildings: consensus to the retrofit expenditure by condominium ownerships, excessive duration of renovation works and temporary alternate accommodation for occupants, split-incentive/landlord-tenant dilemma, excessive time for getting construction permits, need of regulatory simplification, etc.
11. Strategies for promoting the social sensitivity to prevention actions
Development of new policies to promote the awareness of the disastrous consequences of inadequate or insufficient prevention actions. Strategies to disseminate, among interested stakeholders, technical skills and competences on retrofitting measures, as well as to highlight the economic convenience of undertaking combined seismic and energy renovations. Training activities.
Venue
Welcome to SER4SC 2018, an extraordinary opportunity to see Catania and Sicily as never before. You will experience some of the most exciting venues of this beautiful island, the pearl of the Mediterranean, as well as the world famous Festival of Saint Agatha, which takes place in Catania annually from 3rd to 5th February. Find out more:
SER4SC 2018 takes place in Catania, a lively city set on the eastern coast of Sicily, at the foot of the Volcano of Etna. Known for is wonderful Baroque center, Catania is listed among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The conference will be hold in the University Campus (Città Universitaria), in the northern part of the City, 2 km away from the center.
SER4SC 2018 ends on Saturday 3rd February with three tours of the historical center of Catania, Taormina, and Etna, which can be alternatively be chosen by the participants. On the same day, from 7 p.m., the Festival of Saint Agatha will start in Catania at Piazza Duomo. You have the opportunity to experience one of the largest Christian celebrations in the world, three days of cult, devotion, folklore, and tradition! It commemorates the life of what is the city’s patron saint, Agatha of Sicily. The festival culminates on 5th February in a great all-night procession through the city for which hundreds of thousands of the city’s residents turn out.
Contact
General enquiry | Programme | Registration | Accomodation
Melania Lombardo
mail info@ser2018.org
phone +39 095 782005
Submission enquiry | Programme | Registration | Accomodation
Giuseppe Margani
Vincenzo Sapienza
mail committee@ser2018.org