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ROSCOPIC COFFER. Digital parametrization and realization of timber
bilayer compo-sites for passive dehumidification in built environments
Fabio Bianconi1, Marco Filippucci2, Giulia Pelliccia3, Marco Fioravanti4, Marco Togni5,
Giacomo Goli6
1 Università degli Studi di Perugia, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile ed Ambientale (DICA), fa-bio.bianconi@unipg.it
2 Università degli Studi di Perugia, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile ed Ambientale (DICA), marco.filippucci@unipg.it
3 Università degli Studi di Perugia, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile ed Ambientale (DICA), giulia.pelliccia@outlook.it
4 Università degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agrarie, Alimentari, Ambientali e Forestali (DAGRI),
marco.fioravanti@unifi.it
5 Università degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agrarie, Alimentari, Ambientali e Forestali (DAGRI),
marco.togni@unifi.it
6 Università degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agrarie, Alimentari, Ambientali e Forestali (DAGRI),
giacomo.goli@unifi.it
The issue of sustainability in the building sector is particularly current: green buildings involve
environmental, social and economic benefits (Ragheb et al., 2016). The integration between
renewable materials and passive design strategies for the improvement of the built environment
comfort (Omrany and Marsono, 2016) leads to a reduction in energy consumptions and in
the use of active HAVC systems (Rodriguez-Ubinas et al., 2014). Sustainability concerns the
materials employed, but also their performance: natural materials with embedded responsive
properties respond to specific external stimuli, changing some of their physical or chemical
properties and this represents an additional and innovative advantage in built environments.
As biomimicry suggests (Benyus, 1997; Pawlyn, 2011), it is possible to take advantage of the
embedded hygroscopic behaviour of wood in order to create a hygromorphic composite material
that passively reacts to relative humidity variations of the environment (Ugolev, 2014). These
composites are realized with a cross-grained double-layered structure, joining a thicker veneer
(active layer) and a thinner one (passive layer), in order to reproduce the principles that make
pine cones scales bending after exposure to humidity variations (Menges and Reichert, 2012;
Reichert et al., 2015; Holstov et al., 2015; Wood et al., 2018).
The double-layered panels, called “unplywood” (Bianconi and Filippucci, 2019), can be
digitally parametrized and used as a false ceiling for the passive dehumidification of an indoor
environment, using only the convective motion of the humid air and the stack effect. This
is particularly useful when the relative humidity excessively increases, exceeding the comfort
levels (Wolkoff and Kjærgaard, 2007).
The result is a passive dehumidification system where the timber panels act as sensors and
as decorative architectural elements at the same time and contribute to improve the indoor
environment from a hygrometric point of view as well as from a perceptive one.
Keywords: passive hygrometric control, timber composite, natural ventilation, digital
parametrization, hygromorphic bilayers
INTEGRATING SUSTAINABILITY AND HEALTH IN BUILDINGS THROUGH RENEWABLE MATERIALS
43
bilayer compo-sites for passive dehumidification in built environments
Fabio Bianconi1, Marco Filippucci2, Giulia Pelliccia3, Marco Fioravanti4, Marco Togni5,
Giacomo Goli6
1 Università degli Studi di Perugia, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile ed Ambientale (DICA), fa-bio.bianconi@unipg.it
2 Università degli Studi di Perugia, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile ed Ambientale (DICA), marco.filippucci@unipg.it
3 Università degli Studi di Perugia, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile ed Ambientale (DICA), giulia.pelliccia@outlook.it
4 Università degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agrarie, Alimentari, Ambientali e Forestali (DAGRI),
marco.fioravanti@unifi.it
5 Università degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agrarie, Alimentari, Ambientali e Forestali (DAGRI),
marco.togni@unifi.it
6 Università degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agrarie, Alimentari, Ambientali e Forestali (DAGRI),
giacomo.goli@unifi.it
The issue of sustainability in the building sector is particularly current: green buildings involve
environmental, social and economic benefits (Ragheb et al., 2016). The integration between
renewable materials and passive design strategies for the improvement of the built environment
comfort (Omrany and Marsono, 2016) leads to a reduction in energy consumptions and in
the use of active HAVC systems (Rodriguez-Ubinas et al., 2014). Sustainability concerns the
materials employed, but also their performance: natural materials with embedded responsive
properties respond to specific external stimuli, changing some of their physical or chemical
properties and this represents an additional and innovative advantage in built environments.
As biomimicry suggests (Benyus, 1997; Pawlyn, 2011), it is possible to take advantage of the
embedded hygroscopic behaviour of wood in order to create a hygromorphic composite material
that passively reacts to relative humidity variations of the environment (Ugolev, 2014). These
composites are realized with a cross-grained double-layered structure, joining a thicker veneer
(active layer) and a thinner one (passive layer), in order to reproduce the principles that make
pine cones scales bending after exposure to humidity variations (Menges and Reichert, 2012;
Reichert et al., 2015; Holstov et al., 2015; Wood et al., 2018).
The double-layered panels, called “unplywood” (Bianconi and Filippucci, 2019), can be
digitally parametrized and used as a false ceiling for the passive dehumidification of an indoor
environment, using only the convective motion of the humid air and the stack effect. This
is particularly useful when the relative humidity excessively increases, exceeding the comfort
levels (Wolkoff and Kjærgaard, 2007).
The result is a passive dehumidification system where the timber panels act as sensors and
as decorative architectural elements at the same time and contribute to improve the indoor
environment from a hygrometric point of view as well as from a perceptive one.
Keywords: passive hygrometric control, timber composite, natural ventilation, digital
parametrization, hygromorphic bilayers
INTEGRATING SUSTAINABILITY AND HEALTH IN BUILDINGS THROUGH RENEWABLE MATERIALS
43
