Energy Efficiency and Environmental Sustainability in Rural Buildings: A Life Cycle Assessment of Photovoltaic Integration in Poultry Tunnels—A Case Study in Central Italy
Livestock buildings in rural areas are increasingly recognized for their environmental impact, yet few studies provide applied, scenario-based evaluations to guide retrofit interventions. While the existing literature acknowledges the environmental burden of livestock facilities, it often lacks oper...
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MDPI AG
2025-05-01
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| author | Stefano Bigiotti Carlo Costantino Alessio Patriarca Giulia Mancini Giorgio Provolo Fabio Recanatesi Maria Nicolina Ripa Alvaro Marucci |
| author_facet | Stefano Bigiotti Carlo Costantino Alessio Patriarca Giulia Mancini Giorgio Provolo Fabio Recanatesi Maria Nicolina Ripa Alvaro Marucci |
| author_sort | Stefano Bigiotti |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Livestock buildings in rural areas are increasingly recognized for their environmental impact, yet few studies provide applied, scenario-based evaluations to guide retrofit interventions. While the existing literature acknowledges the environmental burden of livestock facilities, it often lacks operationally grounded analyses applicable to real-world agricultural contexts. This paper proposes an original integration of experimental climatic monitoring and life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate retrofit scenarios for energy efficiency in real poultry farming contexts. Based on an accurate climatic monitoring campaign conducted on-site during the spring and summer periods, relevant data were collected on air temperature, humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation affecting two poultry tunnels in central Italy, highlighting the need for thermal mitigation. The comparison between the observed operational scenario and the hypothesized improved scenario, involving energy supply from photovoltaic sources, evaluated using the PVGIS tool, demonstrated a significant reduction in environmental impact, with a 33.4% decrease in global warming potential and a 26.1% reduction in energy consumption. This study combines experimental on-site climatic data collection with comparative environmental evaluation using LCA methodology. The LCA approach, which guided the entire study, highlighted how the energy efficiency gained through solar panels adequately offsets their production and maintenance costs over the long term. These findings offer a replicable model for energy retrofits in rural livestock facilities, contributing to both environmental goals and rural resilience. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-6b79d1d6e77944f3893dac032ce7d37c2025-08-20T01:49:24ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172025-05-01159509410.3390/app15095094Energy Efficiency and Environmental Sustainability in Rural Buildings: A Life Cycle Assessment of Photovoltaic Integration in Poultry Tunnels—A Case Study in Central ItalyStefano Bigiotti0Carlo Costantino1Alessio Patriarca2Giulia Mancini3Giorgio Provolo4Fabio Recanatesi5Maria Nicolina Ripa6Alvaro Marucci7DAFNE—Department of Agriculture, Forests, Nature and Energy, University of Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, ItalyDAFNE—Department of Agriculture, Forests, Nature and Energy, University of Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, ItalyDAFNE—Department of Agriculture, Forests, Nature and Energy, University of Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, ItalyDAFNE—Department of Agriculture, Forests, Nature and Energy, University of Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, ItalyDepartment of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, ItalyDAFNE—Department of Agriculture, Forests, Nature and Energy, University of Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, ItalyDAFNE—Department of Agriculture, Forests, Nature and Energy, University of Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, ItalyDAFNE—Department of Agriculture, Forests, Nature and Energy, University of Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, ItalyLivestock buildings in rural areas are increasingly recognized for their environmental impact, yet few studies provide applied, scenario-based evaluations to guide retrofit interventions. While the existing literature acknowledges the environmental burden of livestock facilities, it often lacks operationally grounded analyses applicable to real-world agricultural contexts. This paper proposes an original integration of experimental climatic monitoring and life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate retrofit scenarios for energy efficiency in real poultry farming contexts. Based on an accurate climatic monitoring campaign conducted on-site during the spring and summer periods, relevant data were collected on air temperature, humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation affecting two poultry tunnels in central Italy, highlighting the need for thermal mitigation. The comparison between the observed operational scenario and the hypothesized improved scenario, involving energy supply from photovoltaic sources, evaluated using the PVGIS tool, demonstrated a significant reduction in environmental impact, with a 33.4% decrease in global warming potential and a 26.1% reduction in energy consumption. This study combines experimental on-site climatic data collection with comparative environmental evaluation using LCA methodology. The LCA approach, which guided the entire study, highlighted how the energy efficiency gained through solar panels adequately offsets their production and maintenance costs over the long term. These findings offer a replicable model for energy retrofits in rural livestock facilities, contributing to both environmental goals and rural resilience.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/9/5094life cycle assessmentrenewable energyenvironmental impactenergy retrofitphotovoltaic systemsrural buildings |
| spellingShingle | Stefano Bigiotti Carlo Costantino Alessio Patriarca Giulia Mancini Giorgio Provolo Fabio Recanatesi Maria Nicolina Ripa Alvaro Marucci Energy Efficiency and Environmental Sustainability in Rural Buildings: A Life Cycle Assessment of Photovoltaic Integration in Poultry Tunnels—A Case Study in Central Italy Applied Sciences life cycle assessment renewable energy environmental impact energy retrofit photovoltaic systems rural buildings |
| title | Energy Efficiency and Environmental Sustainability in Rural Buildings: A Life Cycle Assessment of Photovoltaic Integration in Poultry Tunnels—A Case Study in Central Italy |
| title_full | Energy Efficiency and Environmental Sustainability in Rural Buildings: A Life Cycle Assessment of Photovoltaic Integration in Poultry Tunnels—A Case Study in Central Italy |
| title_fullStr | Energy Efficiency and Environmental Sustainability in Rural Buildings: A Life Cycle Assessment of Photovoltaic Integration in Poultry Tunnels—A Case Study in Central Italy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Energy Efficiency and Environmental Sustainability in Rural Buildings: A Life Cycle Assessment of Photovoltaic Integration in Poultry Tunnels—A Case Study in Central Italy |
| title_short | Energy Efficiency and Environmental Sustainability in Rural Buildings: A Life Cycle Assessment of Photovoltaic Integration in Poultry Tunnels—A Case Study in Central Italy |
| title_sort | energy efficiency and environmental sustainability in rural buildings a life cycle assessment of photovoltaic integration in poultry tunnels a case study in central italy |
| topic | life cycle assessment renewable energy environmental impact energy retrofit photovoltaic systems rural buildings |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/9/5094 |
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