Monitoring of passive solar systems in retrofitted buildings

The use of passive solar systems can be of great interest in new constructions and in retrofitting interventions, especially in relation to the enormous number of post-war period buildings of the city suburbs, usually characterised by severe functional and aesthetic disrepair and by high energy demand. These systems have morphological-functional characteristics that change according to the context and as they depend on irregular energy sources they are still not widely used and have been the object of little or no studies concerning their performances. The collection of tangible functional data, even when it is conditioned by specific applicative situations, can be very useful to guide planning and research in this field. The following illustrates the outcome of a long winter monitoring campaign of passive solar systems, in particular greenhouse and Trombe-Michel wall systems applied on buildings in a recent energy, aesthetic and functional retrofit in Savona (Italy).