SPECIAL SESSION #1
Sensing and digital technologies in the construction industry: how can metrology foster sustainable and circular approaches in the Industry 4.0 era?
ORGANIZED BY
Gloria Cosoli
Gloria Cosoli
eCampus University, Italy
Giovanni Salerno
Giovanni Salerno
Polytechnic University of Marche, Italy
Maria Teresa Calcagni
Maria Teresa Calcagni
Polytechnic University of Marche, Italy
Alessandra Mobili
Alessandra Mobili
Polytechnic University of Marche, Italy – Department of Industrial Engineering and Mathematical Sciences
Jacopo Donnini
Jacopo Donnini
Polytechnic University of Marche, Italy
Gian Marco Revel
Gian Marco Revel
Polytechnic University of Marche, Italy
ABSTRACT
Undoubtedly, the construction sector is one of the most reluctant to change. However, in a world struggling with pollution, high CO2 production, and waste management, it is mandatory to look for innovative solutions enhancing the actual sustainability of all the industrial activities. Considering the huge quantity of waste produced by construction, nowadays the government entities look for technologies, materials, and strategies that can effectively cope with these matters, contributing to paving the way towards a greener and more circular construction sector.
For sure, metrology can play a relevant role in this context; indeed, sensors and measurement systems can be coupled with Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, and this enables the realization of monitoring systems (also in distributed form, if needed), providing data in a regular manner and making them accessible from remote. In this way, the inferred information can be exploited for different purposes and by different actors, with the ultimate objective of enhancing the valorization of construction and demolition wastes (CDWs), preventing them to be disposed in landfill, when possible, and promoting their reuse or recycle in order to keep such material within the market for as long as possible.
This Special Session aims to promote the latest research contributions in this field. Original papers are invited to be submitted pointing out studies on the development of sensing and digital technologies applied to the construction sector and contributing to the value creation in the era of Industry 4.0.
This Special Session is organized in the framework of the Horizon Europe RECONSTRUCT project (GA n° 101082265), which aims to develop a territorial construction system for a circular low-carbon built environment.
TOPICS
Topics of interest include but are not restricted to:
- Sensing and digital technologies for CDWs recognition;
- Monitoring system for construction and demolition sites;
- Monitoring systems for waste management sites;
- Artificial Intelligence and data mining in construction;
- Imaging techniques (e.g., infrared, hyperspectral, etc.) for CDWs valorization;
- Measurement technologies for circularity in construction;
- Innovative solutions to enhance sustainability in construction;
- Data processing techniques.
ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS
Gloria Cosoli received the B.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering (with honors) and the M.S. degree in Electronic Engineering (with honors) from Università Politecnica delle Marche (UNIVPM), Ancona, Italy, in 2011 and 2013, respectively. She received the Ph. D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the same university in 2017 with a thesis entitled “Study and Development of a Novel Radio Frequency Electromedical Device for the Treatment of Peri-Implantitis: Experimental Performance Analysis, Modelling of the Electromagnetic Interaction with Tissues and In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluation”. Since May 2024, she has been an Associate Professor at eCampus University. Her research interests focus on non-invasive physiological measurements and monitoring techniques, thermal and mechanical measurements, non-destructive monitoring techniques, numerical modelling, and signal processing.
Giovanni Salerno received the B.S. and the M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy, in 2019 and 2022, respectively. He is a PhD candidate in Industrial Engineering at the Università Politecnica delle Marche. His research interests focus on non-destructive monitoring measurements and techniques, thermal and mechanical measurements, computer vision and artificial intelligence techniques, numerical modelling and signal processing.
Maria Teresa Calcagni received her BSc and MSc degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Università Politecnica delle Marche (UNIVPM), Ancona, Italy, in 2018 and 2020, respectively. She is a PhD candidate in Industrial Engineering at the same university. Her research interests focus on non-destructive monitoring measurements and techniques, thermal and mechanical measurements, numerical modelling and signal processing.
Alessandra Mobili received the M.S. degree in Building Engineering - Architecture from Università Politecnica delle Marche (UNIVPM), Ancona, Italy, in 2012. She received the Ph. D. degree in Materials Engineering at UNIVPM with a thesis entitled “Geopolymeric and cementitious mortars for buildings: Comparison at the same strength class”. She is a civil engineer and concrete technologist. Since March 2024, she has been Researcher at UNIVPM. Her research focuses on building materials for civil applications. In particular, she studies how to valorize wastes and by-products in multifunctional and environmentally-friendly mortars/concretes based on cement and sustainable binders.
Jacopo Donnini is Associate Professor in Materials Science and Technology at Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona (Italy). His current research activities focus on advanced composite systems (FRCM, FRP) for the strengthening and rehabilitation of existing masonry and concrete structures. Other research topics include the reuse of industrial by-products and waste materials in cement-based composites, Ultra High Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC) and highly conductive cementitious composites.
Gian Marco Revel is Full Professor in Mechanical and Thermal Measurement at Università Politecnica delle Marche, where he also plays the role of Rector Delegate for European Research. Main research interests are in the field of sensor and measurement technologies for industrial applications, with particular focus on the construction sector, building energy efficiency, in-field material characterization and non-destructive testing. He is Coordinator of the Material&Sustainability Committee of ECTP and Coordinator of the Italian Construction Technology Platform. He is author of more than 200 publications and Scientific Responsible for several projects in the area of technologies for Energy Efficiency and Materials in Buildings.
