Energetic Retrofit Strategies for Traditional Sicilian Wine Cellars: A Case Study

Francesco Nocera, Rosa Caponetto, Giada Giuffrida and Maurizio Detommaso
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Francesco Nocera: Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italy
Rosa Caponetto: Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italy
Giada Giuffrida: Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italy
Maurizio Detommaso: Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italy

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 12, 1-17

Abstract: Sicily is characterized by rural buildings, Palmenti, destined to wine production, which are scattered along the countryside and part of the local historical heritage. There are different types of rural buildings, but all have in common the use of ancient and well-established bioclimatic techniques for wine conservation and aging. Most of them were built with the double function of living space for the owner and productive spaces for all the activities correlated to the cultivations. Indeed, many rural houses, destined to the wine production, are characterized by wineries and wine cellars (the first for the wine production, the second to store the wine for the aging process). The growing production of high-quality Sicilian wines, very appreciated all over the world, leads to upgrade the ancient Palmenti to seek optimal hygrothermal conditions and, therefore, to guarantee high performance of the produced and stored wines. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the retrofit measures taken to comply with the energy regulations could affect the thermal behavior of a wine cellar constructed with consolidated bioclimatic technics. The results show the importance of not insulating the solid ground floor for maintaining suitable temperatures for the fermentation and aging of wine. This study can be useful for future analysis when comparing the optimal hygrothermal conditions of wine cellars located in homogeneous viticultural areas (with same climate, geology, soil, physical features, and height) in other parts of the world.

Keywords: bioclimatic strategy; traditional constructive technology; wine vinification; energetic retrofit (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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