Research

An inalienable contribution to the achievement of ever greater knowledge and competence towards the pursuit of eco-sustainable development that does not neglect the relationship with institutions and bodies responsible for regulating the subject, such as regional or ministerial departments.

For this reason IRIDE has chosen to dedicate one of the two areas that make up its organisational model to the research sector, and for the same reason has developed a series of collaborations, both with university departments and with other engineering companies, which have led to the development of study methods and modelling for the analysis and optimisation of complex scenarios.

In the conceptual model underlying the Institute's action and organisation, research is not an end, but a tool through which to deepen our knowledge of eco-sustainability issues and to transfer them into the practice of our engineering activities.

Theory and practice, research and application are therefore two different aspects of IRIDE's activities, intimately linked and united by the objective of demonstrating how eco-sustainable development can be effectively and concretely pursued.

In this direction, the Institute, in keeping with the spirit that animates it, has set up a series of collaborations with university institutes and engineering companies, which have led to initial concrete results.

Among the results of this activity:

Firstly, the development of B.A.L.A.N.C.E. (roBust AnaLysis ANd optimisation of Complex Environments), an environmental design tool developed with DIMI, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering of the University of Roma Tre and presented during the round table held on 18 January 2011 in the Council Chamber of the Rectorate.

A further result of the research activity carried out by the Institute, this time with the contribution of Italferr S.p.A. - Environment and Archaeology Operational Unit, was the definition of a methodology for the environmental sustainability of railway infrastructures. The almost 70 indicators that make up the methodology developed are therefore not only a reasoned synthesis of the principles of sustainability established by the highest disciplinary references drawn up at an EU and national level, such as the European Union's 10 sustainability criteria or the Environmental Action Strategy for Sustainable Development, but also their translation into quantitative terms, thus offering the concrete possibility of measuring the level with which the project satisfies the principles of environmental sustainability.

The Institute then took on a new challenge alongside ANAS S.p.A.: to apply the methodology developed in the case study of road infrastructure. This is a new adventure which, although it has elements of analogy with the one already conducted, presents completely different issues from those tackled due to the profound differences between the two aforementioned types of linear infrastructure, which therefore require renewed commitment.

An activity currently underway by the Institute is the development of a specific software package for determining the level of environmental sustainability of infrastructure initiatives. The package has been called S.P.I.D.E.R. Software for evaluation of Sustainability in Planning, Design and Monitoring.

In the field of research, the "R" of iRide has not stopped here, but a new structure has been created, which is now operational in the field of in-depth studies, research and specialist studies. In fact, IRIDE is a founding partner of R.I.S.E. (Research and Innovation for Sustainable Environment), which is an innovative start-up and, more specifically, a research spin-off, financed by the Lazio Region (POR FESR LAZIO 2014-2020 - Project T0002E0001), and is a point of collection and development of research, projects and technologies aimed at optimal management of an infrastructure in its various phases of life, from concept to decommissioning.

In particular, the sectors identified to date as reference points for R.I.S.E. activities are:

• Dynamic modelling of emissions generated by vehicle traffic
• Participatory planning and public debate
• Network management
• Infrastructure for zero emission mobility
• The development of a technical-environmental "register" in the airport field: ASTER package
• Strategic Environmental Assessment as a decision support tool

Start up innovativa riconosciuta dalla Regione Lazio con Determina G13278/18 pubblicata su BUR Lazio del 23.10.2018