Digital solutions for sustainability goals in airports

After the COVID-19 pandemic, the social impact on wellbeing, from the health safety point of view, has been relevant. Changes in the environment and in the climate, globalization of transports and international travels increase the chance that epidemic events will be more common.Thus, the Science of Architecture must consider the use of more sophisticated methods and tools to evaluate the building performances and suggest solutions to diminish related hygienic risks. Therefore, this research focuses on the development of a methodology and of a digital tool, embedded in a BIM platform. The methodology derives its core variables from scientific in vivo tests and observations of COVID-19 pandemic, and data from the environment. Starting from the methodology, this research develops an evaluation tool which considers also potentially contaminating surfaces. In fact, surfaces could influence greatly the microbial load of the environment and benefit from materials with antimicrobial properties. For example, copper and its alloys possess antibacterial activity. The analysis of environmental data is essential: indeed, architectural composition of spaces, processes, number of occupants, surfaces and their materials, are connected to potential hygienic risk. This approach is particularly relevant for sensitive buildings, such as public facilities, e.g. hospitals, schools, transport hubs and in particular airports. Thanks to the digital evaluation tool under development within the research, it will be possible to proceed in verifying the project design options and support the selection of the best enhancement scenario, according to the outcomes of the analysis.