Anti-seismic and fire-resistant, soundproofed and thermally insulated, inexpensive and easy to build. This is the house of the future according to the European project ELISSA (Energy Efficient LIghtweight-Sustainable-SAfe-Steel Construction), whose final workshop was held in Naples, on July 7.
The aim of the project was to find and test new solutions for a building meant to be energy-efficient, environmentally friendly, economical, resistant to fire and earthquakes, soundproofed and thermally insulated, studying and developing steel dry systems, light and prefabricated, which can ensure high standards of performance.
The project involved the collaboration of universities from five different nations, including the University of Naples Federico II, the Universities of Athens and Ulster, research centers (Woelfel Beratende Ingenieure, ZAE Bayern e STRESS SCARL) and leading manufacturers in the sector of dry steel construction, including Knauf.
Italy had a leadership role, enhancing the technical/scientific expertise, as evidenced by the professor Raffaele Landolfo, director of the Department of Structures for Engineering and Architecture of the University of Naples Federico II and manager of earthquake resistance tests:
“In Italy and in particular at the University of Naples Federico II, we are leaders in designing solutions for buildings that can withstand the strongest earthquakes; undisputedly recognized also in Europe, this excellence ensured the entrustment of the Elissa project to our department, regarding the design of anti-seismic solutions and their final test that has been now successfully passed”.
Moreover, the Italian role was also crucial on the structural front; in this area the supervision of the engineer Claudia Chiti, Technical Director of Knauf Italy and manager of numerous innovative and experimental housing projects, has allowed us to capitalize on the huge multinational expertise to solve the most important structural problems and ensure the success of the project.
“With the coordinated work of this group of companies and universities, we have shown that a new, more rational and secure building industry already exists. By using innovative technologies already available - such as Knauf slabs, ceilings and insulations - and integrating them in an appropriate way with the solutions provided by other companies, including the major Cocoon profiles, we have shown that it is possible to build better houses cutting costs up to 15% and reducing drastically times of construction”, Chiti sums up.
Structurally, the house of the future of the Elissa project is based on a system of profiles made of modular, lightweight steel, designed by the Swiss Cocoon and completed with different Knauf products; for the perimetrical side we used the Knauf Aquapanel slabs made of lightweight concrete while the inner ones were made with Knauf Diamant slabs and solutions for thermal/acoustic insulation Knauf Mineral Wool. For the supporting floors, also Knauf solutions made with Knauf Gifafloor have been used.
With this structure, it has been reproduced in 1:1 scale a house on two floors, as strong as lightweight (only 10 tons), which in the vibrating platform of the laboratories of the University of Naples Federico II has been exposed to a series of growing seismic shocks, whose maximum power reached the 150% of the earthquake that struck L'Aquila in 2009.
The building perfectly endured the repeated accelerations, up to the value of 1g, caused by the shaking table, overcoming successfully the different stresses to which it was exposed without no subsidence hint even in the most critical joints.
"This was the final test of the Elissa project, which has shown how, after thousands of years, you can finally have an alternative to the brick and that, thanks to the technology available today, is finally possible to build comfortable, safe, inexpensive and above all environmentally friendly homes”, Maria Founti commented, professor of the National Technical University of Athens and European coordinator of the project Elissa.