PEOPLEMarco Larcher

de en it

Marco Larcher

Senior Researcher
Institute for Renewable Energy

T +39 0471 055 704

marco.larcher@eurac.edu

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8495-516X

download or scan my contact information (vCard Format)

About

Heat and misture transport in buildings
- Energy refurbishment of historic buildings
- Prevention of moisture related damages in Buildings
- Hygrothermal performance analysis of building materials

Short Bio

Marco Larcher graduated and obtained his PhD in physics at the University of Trento. During his studies, he spent a period abroad at Imperial College London through the Erasmus programme. He has worked in the field of Nearly-Zero-Energy Buildings/Passivhaus design as an energy consultant, trainer and certifier.

Since 2017, he has been working as a Senior Researcher at the Institute for Renewable Energy of Eurac Research where he is part of the Energy Retrofit of Historic Buildings group . His main research topic is the hygrothermal analysis of buildings for the prevention of moisture related damages and for the optimization of the indoor environmental quality. He is involved in numerical simulation, building monitoring as well as laboratory analysis. He is responsible for the Hygrothermal Testing Lab, a laboratory for the hygrothermal characterization of building materials and is actively involved in the quality management system as Laboratory Quality Referent.

Links

RESARCH GATE https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Marco-Larcher

LINKEDIN linkedin.com/in/marco-larcher-5a7286105

Scientific Publications

Journal article2026

Monitored hygrothermal dataset of a high-altitude Dolomite refuge: wall and indoor climate at 2870 m a.s.l.

Panico S, Zandonai A, Leonardi E, Larcher M, Cennamo D, Herrera D, Troi A

Marco Larcher, Alexandra Troi, David Cennamo, Eleonora Leonardi, Simone Panico

Progetto: PNRR iNEST - Ecosistema interconnesso dell'innovazione del Nord Est

A five-year hygrothermal dataset (23 September 2020 to 8 August 2025) was compiled from Rifugio Boé, a 1905 stone mountain refuge situated at 2870 m a.s.l. in the Dolomites. The dataset includes hourly recordings of outdoor climate parameters (temperature, relative humidity, global tilted irradiance, and driving rain), indoor conditions across six functionally distinct rooms, and temperature–humidity profiles at three depths within the retrofitted south-east wall. The monitoring system was engineered for robust, long-term operation under harsh alpine conditions. Data are provided in CSV format, accompanied by comprehensive sensor metadata. The dataset supports: (i) validation of hygrothermal simulation models under extreme alpine conditions; (ii) evaluation of the long-term performance and durability of internal insulation within historic masonry; and (iii) benchmarking of moisture-related risk in high-altitude heritage structures. Moreover, the dataset offers a rare opportunity to examine hygrothermal responses in high-elevation-built heritage, a research domain where long-term, high-frequency data remain scarce.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1038/s41597-025-06441-3

Journal article2025

Assessing the impact of moisture buffering properties of materials on indoor environmental quality: A study on a recycled material plaster

Larcher M, Leonardi E, Troi A, Stefani A, Nerobutto G, Herrera-Avellanosa D

Marco Larcher, Alexandra Troi, Eleonora Leonardi

Progetto: PNRR iNEST - Ecosistema interconnesso dell'innovazione del Nord Est

This study examines Moisture Buffer Value (MBV) of interior finishing layers, which impacts buildings internal relative humidity, thus indoor environmental quality. The MBV depends on material's moisture capacity and vapour diffusion resistance factor, both of which depends on relative humidity. The paper aims to (i) characterize a new recycled material plaster that includes construction and food industry waste through laboratory measurements, (ii) use dynamical building simulations to quantify the impact of the MBV of existing and the new interior plaster on relative humidity in real design scenarios, and (iii) evaluate how changing the definition of the MBV to consider its dependence on indoor air relative humidity can improve its accuracy. Results show that the plaster's moisture buffering properties significantly reduce the variations of the relative humidity of interior climates compared to a vapour-tight finishing layer. The performances of the new plaster made with recycled materials are comparable to those of the other plasters. The new MBV definitions (“Dynamical MBV″ and “Summer/Winter MBV”) show a significantly improved correlation with the relative humidity variations of indoor climates of buildings, observed in dynamic simulations, with respect to the typically used practical MBV. The new definitions are therefore promising for practical applications.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2024.112170

Journal article2025

Hygrothermal performance of an innovative resource efficient composite masonry unit with embedded biobased insulation

Caruso L, Buhagiar V, Caruana Smith G, Larcher M, Buhagiar S, Bottino Leone D

Marco Larcher, Dario Bottino Leone

The REcycled Stone and Concrete Unit (RESCIU) is an exemplary case study of load-bearing composite masonry units (cMU) based on a unique and registered design that involves sandwiching a 12 mm S-shaped biobased polyurethane foam (BPUF) between C-shaped recycled solid elements, one in Globigerina limestone and the other in concrete.

Thermophysical and hygric material properties were measured under strict laboratory conditions and their related error analysis was calculated. To complement this, a locally recorded hourly weather file for Malta (representative location of Mediterranean climate) was used to implement boundary conditions for both 1D and 3D hygrothermal simulations.

The measurement of U-value on RESCIU prototypes via hotbox apparatus converged to (averaged) 1.39 ± 0.19 W/(m²K). The 3D simulation, validated in a precedent publication, aligned closely with hotbox results yielding an U_RESCIU of 1.40 W/(m²K).

1D assessments with 20 mm of the S-shaped cavity led to a reduction of theoretical thermal transmittance of up to 0.71 W/(m²K) and a prolonged thermal lag up of up to eleven hours (UNI EN ISO 13786). In 3D this value is slightly lower with U_RESCIU of 0.65 W/(m²K). However, periodic thermal transmittance Y_ieRESCIU of 0.29 W/(m²K) in 1D mode was found overestimated compared to 0.43 W/(m²K) obtained in 3D, while the thermal lag is accurate (9 h in 3D and 9.7 in 1D).

1D hygrothermal steady state assessments (UNI EN ISO 13788) reported neither the risk of developing surface mold (1D only) nor interstitial condensation (Glaser method), the latter calculated in both 1D and 3D mode for June (summer condition) and December (winter condition). In June 1D and 3D simulations results are very similar as opposed to higher discrepancies detected in December, with 1D simulation consistently underestimating DBT, RH, p_e for the vertical sections characterized by one layer of insulation. This confirms the RESCIU block is suitable for applications in Mediterranean climate.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2025.116015

Journal article2025

Hygrothermal Performance of Thermal Plaster Used as Interior Insulation: Identification of the Most Impactful Design Conditions

Leonardi E, Larcher M, Troi A, Stefani A, Nerobutto G, Herrera-Avellanosa D

Marco Larcher, Alexandra Troi, Eleonora Leonardi

Progetto: PNRR iNEST - Ecosistema interconnesso dell'innovazione del Nord Est

Internal insulation plasters enable historic building renovation without altering the external appearance of the wall. However, the use of internal insulation must be verified case-by-case through dynamic hygrothermal simulation, and the influence of input parameters on the results is not always clear. This paper aims to (i) characterize a new lime-based insulating plaster with expanded recycled glass and aerogel through laboratory measurements, (ii) assess the damage criteria of the plaster under different boundary conditions through dynamic simulations, and (iii) identify the most impactful design conditions on the relative humidity behind insulation. This innovative plaster combines highly insulating properties (thermal conductivity of 0.0463 W/mK) with good capillary activity while also integrating recycled components without compromising performance. The relative humidity behind insulation remains below 95% in most simulated scenarios, with cases above this threshold found only in cold climates, particularly under high internal moisture loads. The parametric study shows that (i) in the analyzed stones, the thermal conductivity variation of the existing wall has a greater effect on the relative humidity behind insulation than the variation of the vapor resistance factor, (ii) the effect of insulation thickness on the relative humidity behind insulation depends on the difference in thermal resistance of the insulation and existing masonry layers, and (iii) internal moisture load and external climate directly impact the relative humidity behind insulation.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.3390/buildings15193559

Journal article2024

Long-term monitoring data of hygrothermal conditions of a retrofitted historic building in Settequerce, South Tyrol (Italy)

Panico S, Larcher M, Herrera-Avellanosa D, Cennamo D, Troi A

Marco Larcher, Alexandra Troi, David Cennamo, Simone Panico

Progetto: Realizzazione e avvio delle attività del nuovo laboratorio "HyLab" per la caratterizzazione igrotermica di materiali e componenti edili, PNRR iNEST - Ecosistema interconnesso dell'innovazione del Nord Est

This data collection presents a comprehensive five-year monitoring record from a historic building located in Settequerce, South Tyrol (Italy). The 17th-century building, characterized by a stone masonry, was subject to a retrofit in 2017 that introduced a wood fiber insulation panel to the inner side of the building's walls. As part of the renovation process, a monitoring system was installed. This system incorporated internal, external, and in-wall sensors, which were strategically placed at three different points within the wall to evaluate the effects of the insulation on the stratigraphy. This setup ensured the continuous collection of climatic data, both from the exterior and interior environments, as well as from within the renovated wall's stratigraphy. This comprehensive dataset delivers new insights into the long-term performance of retrofit interventions. The significant potential for reuse of this dataset makes it a substantial foundation for future studies on energy-efficient retrofitting and the preservation of historical structures in comparable climate (Climate E Köppen). It is expected to inform data-driven decisions in future renovation and preservation projects of comparable historic buildings.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2024.110137

Journal article2024

Validation of 3D thermal simulations of the Double C Block, a novel composite masonry unit, using in-situ U-value measurements

Caruso L, Buhagiar V, Larcher M, Paul Borg S, Bottino-Leone D

Marco Larcher

Energy efficient building envelopes, particularly innovative prefabricated building components, can significantly contribute to lower the building industry energy-related emissions. In this research the composite masonry unit Double C Block (DCB) is quantitatively tested by means of three-dimensional thermal simulation validated by in-situ U-value measurements carried out in both summer and winter conditions.

The simulations were enhanced by the experimental measurement of the dry thermo-physical material properties (specific heat capacity, thermal conductivity, and density) in laboratory conditions for both concrete and polyurethane. The samples were extracted from real-scale DCB prototypes. Furthermore, site-specific boundary conditions of Malta — representative a case study of a Mediterranean climate − were utilised in the simulations. Both laboratory and in-situ assessments of thermal transmittance, or U-value, had their uncertainty specified as part of the calculations.

The validation exercise was performed by means of hourly recorded surface temperature and the selected indices were the root mean square error and mean absolute error. Results showed that these indices were within the recommended accuracy thresholds during both winter and summer assessments. For the hourly-based heat flux measurements, the mean bias error and coefficient of variation of the root mean square error were found lower than values reported in literature, thus supporting the robustness of the overall simulation outputs. Hence the 3D CVM simulation was experimentally validated by in-situ assessments.

The convergence value of the experimental U-value provided respectively 1.51 ± 0.20 W/(m²K) (winter) and 1.44 ± 0.19 W/(m²K) (summer). Then, the validated 3D CVM model was adapted to calculate the theoretical U-value of DCB, using monthly values of recorded surface temperatures obtained by the test cells (in both seasons). The predicted thermal transmittance was of 1.47 W/(m²K), in both conditions, and this almost matches the above-mentioned experimental assessments and thresholds established in previous works.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2024.114956

Conference proceedings article2023

Hygrothermal characterization of a plaster with recycled materials used as interior insulation

Leonardi E, Larcher M, Herrera Avellanosa D, Stefani A, Troi A

Marco Larcher, Alexandra Troi, Eleonora Leonardi

Progetto: Realizzazione e avvio delle attività del nuovo laboratorio "HyLab" per la caratterizzazione igrotermica di materiali e componenti edili

Interior insulation plays a key role in reducing the energy consumption of historic buildings. However, it might cause moisture accumulation and must be thoroughly analyzed. The use of recycled materials allows for further reduction of environmental impact. This paper presents the study of a new insulating plaster containing aerogel and recycled glass used as capillary active interior insulation system. Firstly, the hygrothermal properties of the material are measured in laboratory to obtain a complete characterization. Laboratory tests results are postprocessed to obtain the data required as input by the simulation software. Finally, hygrothermal simulations are carried out to investigate the material’s behavior in realistic application scenarios and to study how different input parameters affect the results.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.14293/ICMB230024

Journal article2023

Hygrothermal simulation challenges: Assessing boundary condition choices in retrofitting historic European buildings

Panico S, Larcher M, Avellanosa DH, Baglivo C, Troi A, Congedo PM

Marco Larcher, Alexandra Troi, Simone Panico

Progetto: Realizzazione e avvio delle attività del nuovo laboratorio "HyLab" per la caratterizzazione igrotermica di materiali e componenti edili

This study explores the influence of uncertain boundary climate conditions on the hygrothermal performance of an internally insulated historic masonry wall using numerical simulations. The research compares diverse internal and external climate data sources to evaluate their reliability. A pre-validated hygrothermal simulation model serves as the benchmark for comparing simulated data with actual monitoring data. An array of climate data sources, including adaptive indoor climate models defined in the EN 15026 and UNI EN ISO 13788 standards, Typical Meteorological Years, and ground weather station data are considered. The core assessment parameters are temperature and relative humidity values beneath the insulation. Unexpectedly, the findings reveal that external climate conditions have a minor influence on the simulation results. Conversely, internal climate conditions significantly impact the outcomes, causing substantial variations. These implications underline the criticality of selecting an appropriate indoor climate model and moisture load class. The incorrect choice can lead to substantial errors, with peak relative humidity values predicted by the models varying in a range greater than 15 percentage points of relative humidity. In conclusion, the study reveals that utilizing Typical Meteorological Years and adaptive indoor climate models still yields excellent results, despite the inherent uncertainties. Moreover, this study emphasizes the importance of carefully selecting suitable indoor climate models to enhance the accuracy of hygrothermal simulations in historic buildings and underlines the need for future research focused on developing more precise guidelines for identifying the correct moisture load classes.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2023.113464

Journal article2023

Identifying key parameters through a sensitivity analysis for realistic hygrothermal simulations at wall level supported by monitored data

Panico S, Larcher M, Marincioni V, Troi A, Baglivo C, Congedo PM

Simone Panico, Marco Larcher, Alexandra Troi

The reliability of hygrothermal simulations of building components is key for designing energy efficiency measures, assessing living comfort, and preventing building damage. The model accuracy is related to the reliability of the selection of input parameters. Due to the high uncertainty, the selection of the input values is challenging. This work aims to calibrate a hygrothermal simulation model exploiting monitored values recorded in a case study located in Settequerce (Italy), to understand how close to reality a numerical model can be. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis, based on the Morris method together with a Latin Hypercube sampling, is applied to identify the input parameters that affect most significantly the simulation. The results of the calibration indicated that is possible to obtain reliable outputs by appropriately selecting materials within the database. The sensitivity analysis showed that the relative humidity under the insulation is largely influenced by the water vapor diffusion resistance factor of the plaster, applied during the renovation phase both on the internal and external side. Among the coefficients describing the coupling with the boundary conditions, only the external convective heat coefficient and the coefficient of short-wave solar radiation influence slightly the objective function.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109969

Journal article2022

Thermal Modeling of a Historical Building Wall: Using Long-Term Monitoring Data to Understand the Reliability and the Robustness of Numerical Simulations

Panico S, Larcher M, Troi A, Baglivo C, Congedo PM

Marco Larcher, Alexandra Troi, Simone Panico

: Thermal modeling of building components plays a crucial role in designing energy efficiency measures, assessing living comfort, and preventing building damages. The accuracy of the modeling process strongly depends on the reliability of the physical models and the correct selection of input parameters, especially for historic buildings where uncertainties on wall composition and material properties are higher. This work evaluates the reliability of building thermal modeling and identifies the input parameters that most affect the simulation results. A monitoring system is applied to a historic building wall to measure the temperature profile. The long-term dataset is compared with the result of a simulation model. A sensitivity analysis is applied for the determination of the influential input parameters. A two-step optimization is performed to calibrate the numerical model: the first optimization step is based on an optimized selection of the database materials, while the second optimization step uses a particle swarm algorithm. The results indicate that the output of the simulation model is largely influenced by the coefficients describing the coupling with the boundary conditions and by the thermal conductivities of the materials. Very good results are obtained already after the first optimization step (RMSE = 0.75 ◦C) while the second optimization step improves further the agreement (RMSE = 0.48 ◦C). The parameter values reported in the datasheets do not match those found through optimization. Even with extensive optimization using an algorithm, starting with monitoring data is insufficient to identify material parameter values.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.3390/buildings12081258

Journal article2021

Hygrothermal characterization of a fictitious homogenized porous material to describe multiphase heat and moisture transport in massive historic walls

Bottino Leone D, Larcher M, Troi A, Grunewald J

Marco Larcher, Alexandra Troi, Dario Bottino Leone

Progetto: Realizzazione e avvio delle attività del nuovo laboratorio "HyLab" per la caratterizzazione igrotermica di materiali e componenti edili

The hygrothermal analysis of historical building envelopes is an important part of renovation concepts for existing buildings. Using dynamic hygrothermal simulation is an effective approach to predict moisture-related damage, such as the risk of mold infestation or susceptibility to frost damage. However, modeling a historic wall of brick / stone and mortar joints with a detailed two- or three-dimensional model is complex and time-consuming. Old masonry is often simplified into a one-dimensional stone / brick layer in hygrothermal simulations, whereby mortar joints are neglected. In a previous work, we identified cases where this method led to unacceptable simplifications. This study presents a method to replace a complex historical masonry (our reference), which consists of different material components with a fictitious homogenized porous material. The aim is to optimize the material properties of the homogenized material so that the behavior of the reference model is well approximated for the most important applications. The method is applied and validated on nine combination of three mortars with five different stones and bricks. Finally, the satisfactory behavior of the homogenized material under dynamic conditions is verified for the praxis example of an internally insulated wall in different climatic conditions by comparing it with its two-dimensional reference model. The improvements in using the developed method with respect to the one-dimensional stone/brick layer approach are considerable especially for hygrometric parameter and are more pronounced the more different the hygrothermal properties of the materials in the reference model are.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.121497

Journal article2021

Impact of climatic parameters on rain protection layer design for refurbished historic buildings

Bottino Leone D, Larcher M, Troi A, Grunewald J

Marco Larcher, Alexandra Troi, Dario Bottino Leone

Progetto: Realizzazione e avvio delle attività del nuovo laboratorio "HyLab" per la caratterizzazione igrotermica di materiali e componenti edili

The application of interior insulation systems consistently increases energy performance of historic buildings, but also severely affects the drying potential of their envelopes reducing the evaporation potential towards the internal side. This reduction is even more critical in façades interested by a significant amount of driving rain. To face this problem, current recommendations and standards suggest the replacement of the original plaster with a “water repellent” one especially in climates with a high yearly horizontal precipitation. However, since this kind intervention represents a big economic and environmental cost, more specific studies are needed to identify whether it is always necessary. In fact, current approach excludes the impact of solar radiation, which may play a significant role for evaporation phenomena. Moreover, wind effect may be taken into account by considering the wind driven rain instead of horizontal rain amount. In order to investigate these hypotheses, this simulation-based study analyzes hygrothermal performances of an internally insulated wall in several European climates and latitudes, with similar annual precipitation and different solar radiation amount and wind conditions. Results show that considering wind action is important to give a more precise estimation of the effective rain impacting the façade. Moreover, water repellent exterior plasters could be avoided in façades with consistent amounts of solar radiation. Consequently, there is currently the need of a more elaborated method for identifying the necessity of replacing the historic external plasters; this method should include external climate factors, as e.g. solar radiation and wind action.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2021.111688

Technical
Questi cookie sono necessari per il funzionamento del sito e non possono essere disattivati.

Service	Disattivo/Attivo	Terms Link
Youtube		https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7671399?...
Vimeo		https://vimeo.com/terms
Flourish		https://flourish.studio/terms/
Datawrapper		https://www.datawrapper.de/terms
Power BI		https://www.microsoft.com/en/servicesagreement/
Facebook		https://www.facebook.com/policies/cookies/
Instagram		https://help.instagram.com/1896641480634370?ref=ig
X		https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/twi...
Google Maps		https://maps.google.com/help/terms_maps/
LinkedIn		https://www.linkedin.com/legal/cookie-policy

Journal article2024

Validation of 3D thermal simulations of the Double C Block, a novel composite masonry unit, using in-situ U-value measurements

Caruso L, Buhagiar V, Larcher M, Paul Borg S, Bottino-Leone D

Marco Larcher

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2024.114956

Marco Larcher

About

About

Scientific Publications

Monitored hygrothermal dataset of a high-altitude Dolomite refuge: wall and indoor climate at 2870 m a.s.l.

Assessing the impact of moisture buffering properties of materials on indoor environmental quality: A study on a recycled material plaster

Hygrothermal performance of an innovative resource efficient composite masonry unit with embedded biobased insulation

Hygrothermal Performance of Thermal Plaster Used as Interior Insulation: Identification of the Most Impactful Design Conditions

Long-term monitoring data of hygrothermal conditions of a retrofitted historic building in Settequerce, South Tyrol (Italy)

Validation of 3D thermal simulations of the Double C Block, a novel composite masonry unit, using in-situ U-value measurements

Hygrothermal characterization of a plaster with recycled materials used as interior insulation

Hygrothermal simulation challenges: Assessing boundary condition choices in retrofitting historic European buildings

Identifying key parameters through a sensitivity analysis for realistic hygrothermal simulations at wall level supported by monitored data

Thermal Modeling of a Historical Building Wall: Using Long-Term Monitoring Data to Understand the Reliability and the Robustness of Numerical Simulations

Hygrothermal characterization of a fictitious homogenized porous material to describe multiphase heat and moisture transport in massive historic walls

Impact of climatic parameters on rain protection layer design for refurbished historic buildings

Science Shots Eurac Research Newsletter

Cosa facciamo

Dove siamo

Istituti & Center

Seguici

Preferenze Cookie

Contenuti esterni

Scientific Publications

Monitored hygrothermal dataset of a high-altitude Dolomite refuge: wall and indoor climate at 2870 m a.s.l.

Assessing the impact of moisture buffering properties of materials on indoor environmental quality: A study on a recycled material plaster

Hygrothermal performance of an innovative resource efficient composite masonry unit with embedded biobased insulation

Hygrothermal Performance of Thermal Plaster Used as Interior Insulation: Identification of the Most Impactful Design Conditions

Long-term monitoring data of hygrothermal conditions of a retrofitted historic building in Settequerce, South Tyrol (Italy)

Validation of 3D thermal simulations of the Double C Block, a novel composite masonry unit, using in-situ U-value measurements

Hygrothermal characterization of a plaster with recycled materials used as interior insulation

Hygrothermal simulation challenges: Assessing boundary condition choices in retrofitting historic European buildings

Identifying key parameters through a sensitivity analysis for realistic hygrothermal simulations at wall level supported by monitored data

Thermal Modeling of a Historical Building Wall: Using Long-Term Monitoring Data to Understand the Reliability and the Robustness of Numerical Simulations

Hygrothermal characterization of a fictitious homogenized porous material to describe multiphase heat and moisture transport in massive historic walls

Impact of climatic parameters on rain protection layer design for refurbished historic buildings