No abstract

Ports are characterized by several complex operations. Accordingly, the analysis of noise results is complicated due to the presence in the same area of diverse sound from ships, trade and also from industrial and shipyards activities as well as auxiliary services producing negative effects on natural ecosystem and the urban population. The ENPI CBC MED project Managing the Environmental Sustainability of Ports for a durable development (MESP) addressed the pollution reduction from port activities through the implementation of a multidisciplinary approach in air, noise and water sectors, encompassing technological, regulatory and administrative solutions to ensure natural and urban sustainability and high level of life quality in surrounding territories. To prevent a heterogeneous development, the "status quo" of ports in Northern and Southern Shores of the Mediterranean Sea was analyzed and a guideline on methodologies, good practices and measurement assessment, adaptable and transferable in different port contexts was elaborated. To assess the procedures, validation tests have been carried out to different real cases. In noise sector pilot projects in the ports of Patras, Greece, and Tripoli, Lebanon, have been implemented. Due to the dissimilar scenarios, in terms of orography, facilities and activities, different noise mitigation actions and interventions were consequently accomplished.

To ensure European Union (EU) commitments to the Kyoto protocol, on 29 January 2008 the European Commission launched the Covenant of Mayors (CoM). This is an initiative aimed at unilateral and voluntary participation of European cities in energy efficiency improvement, renewable energy source usage increase, and greenhouse gas emission reduction by 2020. The Municipality of Genoa, Italy, joined the initiative on February 2009 and its Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP), aimed at a 23.7% CO2 reduction by 2020, has been the first among European cities to be officially published by the European Commission. Following a description of EU environmental policies concerning the energy sector and related regulatory framework, this paper presents issues of CoM and SEAP from an overall standpoint and their application in the city of Genoa. The SEAP approach and criteria, initially considered at a general level, are then analyzed in detail with their operational consequences regarding the city. The Baseline Emission Inventory for the city, preparation of the SEAP, its implementation in the various sectors involved (buildings, renewable energy sources, transport, public policy, and others) are analyzed. Eventually, the SEAP monitoring strategy is addressed, considering assessment of the implemented actions, biennial monitoring report, and dynamic management of the CoM. In this way, a useful benchmark is provided to those facing this issue and, more generally, to those dealing with the management of energy sustainability at various levels.

Abstract:International cooperation is a must to achieve the goal of sustainable development, since only through cross border actions' complex issues like environmental degradation can be faced. Supranational initiatives and shared objectives are the only path for getting a durable and effective green strategy, which transcends boundaries or governments and fosters a common effort for sustainability through networking. The European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) aims at reinforcing cooperation between the European Union (EU) and partner countries' regions placed along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. To this extent, MESP (Managing the Environmental Sustainability of Ports for a durable development) can be considered as a typical cross border cooperation project, willing to create a sustainable environmental management of port in northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean basin. This has been achieved through the development of specific guidelines towards environmental sustainability and the collection of common tools, methodologies, good practices and innovations focused on pollution reduction that can be replicated in Mediterranean ports and further. This was possible through the creation of a strong cooperation network and long-lasting collaborations among partners and stakeholders such as harbour cities, port authorities, universities, research centres and scientific skills.

The present paper describes an experimental campaign aimed at the determination of acoustical properties of vulcanized rubber crumbs obtained by the shredding of used tires. In particular, their performance as sound absorbing material in lined ducts was investigated. The most innovative aspect that is addressed in the study is the use of a waste material such as rubber tires reduced into small grains as a sound absorbing material: tires are in fact usually used at the end of their life cycle as fuel and burned in cement kilns in order to take advantage of their high heating value, with all the problems of pollution that this solution produces. Two kinds of rubber crumbs have been investigated in terms of characteristic dimension of the grains, porosity and sound absorbing coefficient, while their "in situ" performance when used inside lined and parallel-baffle rectangular ducts has been evaluated measuring their insertion loss. The results of this research show that the acoustical behaviour of the tested rubber crumbs is the typical behaviour of the granular materials, showing a noteworthy performance of the tested material in the low frequency range, opening a scenery of possible applications where noise has relevant tonal components below 315 Hz.

The present paper describes an experimental campaign aimed at the determination of acoustical properties of vulcanized rubber crumbs obtained by the shredding of used tires. In particular, their performance as sound absorbing material in lined ducts was investigated. The most innovative aspect that is addressed in the study is the use of a waste material such as rubber tires reduced into small grains as a sound absorbing material: tires are in fact usually used at the end of their life cycle as fuel and burned in cement kilns in order to take advantage of their high heating value, with all the problems of pollution that this solution produces. Two kinds of rubber crumbs have been investigated in terms of characteristic dimension of the grains, porosity and sound absorbing coefficient, while their "in situ" performance when used inside lined and parallel-baffle rectangular ducts has been evaluated measuring their insertion loss. The results of this research show that the acoustical behaviour of the tested rubber crumbs is the typical behaviour of the granular materials, showing a noteworthy performance of the tested material in the low frequency range, opening a scenery of possible applications where noise has relevant tonal components below 315 Hz.

Experimental data on acoustical performances, in particular on sound absorption of several green roof systems were evaluated and discussed. Measurements were performed on samples of three green roof systems, different for maintenance, plant setting and containment criteria, and categorized in extensive green roof (Sample A), semi-intensive green roof (Sample B) and common soil (Sample C). Experimental values of normal incidence acoustic absorption coefficient and acoustic impedance were evaluated for each sample in one-third octave frequency bands from 160 to 1600 Hz by using a standing wave tube. Then, diffusive sound absorption coefficients and normal and diffusive weighted sound absorption coefficients were calculated in the same frequency range. Results show that green roofs provide high sound absorption, mostly if compared with the typical performances of traditional flat roofs. Curves of sound absorption coefficients result strongly dependent on the stratigraphy. Comparison between the different systems performed on the base of weighted sound absorption coefficients shows a better behaviour for the Sample B. Results obtained suggest that green roof technology, in addition to energy and environmental benefits, can contribute to noise control in urban areas by means of high sound absorption performances in relation to the size of the surface area.

The paper describes the theoretical and numerical analysis of sound attenuation in a parallel-baffle rectangular ducts. Insertion losses in a frequency range up to 8000 Hz were predicted by means of a FEM numerical model and by means of analytical models from Sabine and Kurze. The models were then validated in the frequency range from 125 to 8000 Hz by comparing theoretical and numerical results with experimental data obtained in accordance to EN ISO 11691 and EN ISO 7235 standards. The results of the comparison indicate that the behavior of such a dissipative/reactive silences, with its internal-reflections and energy dissipation phenomena, can be predicted quite well by the FEM model on the whole frequency range. On the contrary, analytical models show little accuracy and such predictions are not always so accurate as design requires; besides, the complexity of the analytical approach tends to limit its application to the common design practice. Overall comparisons suggest that FEM modeling can be an accurate and inexpensive way to predict sound attenuation in parallel-baffle mufflers and fulfile the ever rising needs of proper methods in acoustic design of AC and ventilation plants.