Prof. Maurizio Cellura
University of Palermo, ItalyTowards climate neutral districts through sustainable materials, systems and practices: the experiences of the IWG 5 of the Set Plan of the European Union and project NEST
Abstract:
Achieving climate-neutral districts necessitates the integration of sustainable materials, systems, and practices. The Implementation Working Group 5 (IWG5) of the SET Plan focuses on energy efficiency in buildings, emphasizing innovative renewable technologies, resource efficiency, circularity, and the flexibility potential of buildings to align with energy systems. Complementing this, the NEST (Network for Energy Sustainable Transition) project, under Italy's National Recovery and Resilience Plan, unites universities, research centers, and industries to develop technologies for renewable energy conversion and use. NEST aims to build a competent Italian leadership in sustainable and decarbonized energy production and distribution, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation . This presentation will explore the synergies between IWG5's strategic objectives and NEST's practical implementations, highlighting pathways to accelerate the transition to climate-neutral districts.
Biography:
Full professor of Building physics and energy systems since 2011 at the University of Palermo, his scientific activity is mainly oriented towards energy and environmental topics, with focus on energy efficiency in buildings, technologies powered by renewable energy and decarbonization strategies of systems and processes. He was member of the National Ecolabel Ecoaudit Committee from 2000 to 2004, coordinator of the national scientific committee EMAS schools (2004-2004), reviewer for the EU Commission under several funding programs, member of the workgroup for the definition of ECOLABEL criteria on buildings, chair of the workgroup "Energy and sustainable Technologies" of the Italian LCA Network and coordinator of several national and EU projects in the field of environmental sustainability of processes, renewable energy technologies, eco-oriented design making, development of innovative tools and methodologies for the sustainability of products and services.
Members of many International Energy Agency work groups: SHC task 27 (Performance of Solar Facade Components), 38 (Solar air-conditioning and refrigeration), 48 (Quality Assurance & Support Measures for Solar Cooling Systems) and 40 (Towards Solar net zero energy buildings), EBC Annex 57 (Evaluation of embodied energy and CO2eq for building construction) and 62 (Ventilative cooling), Annex 72 (Assessing Life Cycle Related Environmental Impacts Caused by Buildings), Annex 83 (Positive Energy Districts). From 2013 to 2018 he was member of the Consultation Board of MIUR (Italian Ministry of Education and Research) for Horizon 2020, Challenge "Secure, clean, and efficient energy", since 2014 he is representative for the University of Palermo of the "Sustainable Solutions Development Network", agency of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), since 2012 he was vice-president of the Italian LCA Network Association, of which he became president in October 2015 until June 2019.
From June 2014 till December 2020 he was coordinator of the Ph.D. course in "Energy and information Technologies" at the University of Palermo and from December 2015 to 2018 he was member of the Scientific Council of the University of Palermo.
Director of the Centre for Sustainability and Ecological transition of the University of Palermo since march 2022, he is national representative of the SETPLAN Implementation Working Group 5 "Energy Efficiency in Buildings" (since 2019). Between 2019-2020 he was member of the Euro-Mediterranean Group of Senior Officials on Research and Innovation (GSO) for research and innovation (EEAS UNION FOR MEDITERRANEAN) and since July 2020 he is Italian representative within the Euro-Mediterranean Bureau of the Union for Mediterranean Regional (UFM) Platform on Research &Innovation.
Since July 2023, he is the coordinator of the Associated Research Doctorate between the University of Palermo and the University of Messina in Ecological Transition. From November 2023 he is member of Scientific Committee of "Ricerca Sistema Energetico (RSE)", Italian scientific public company in the energy field. From dicember 2024 was elected member of the national committee Italian network of Universities for the Sustainable Development (RUS, 2025-2027). He participated as Lead Author in the MedECC Special Report on interlinking climate change with the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE). He is author of more than 400 national and international publications in the fields of LCA, multicriteria decision making, industrial ecology, energy efficiency in buildings and thermal building simulations.
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