The EC Action Plan for Energy Efficiency and the Directive 2010/31/EU on the energy performance of buildings identifies energy efficiency in the building sector as a top priority. In order to achieve its ambitious goals, the new perspective introduced by the Directive requires action not only by imposing limits on energy consumption in new buildings, but also dealing with a significant acceleration in improving the energy performance of existing buildings, including historical ones. Given the characteristics of European cities, the energy efficiency of historic buildings is the future challenge of the new urban policies towards the integration of renewable energy within the urban energy networks and the use of
technologies to use them, even in the fragile Cultural Heritage sector.
The main goal is to promote a change of perspective which will reduce the adoption of single unconnected actions in favour of the idea of saving resources as a constantly evolving process. The final aim is a global understanding of the system which will analyze different variables related to the use of the building, such as its durability, safety, fruition and preservation of its cultural values within its environment. In this perspective, it becomes essential to optimize interactivity with real-time energy demands, climate, people, Cultural Heritage and urban networks to procure locally-adapted, high-quality energy-efficient buildings, developing and validating materials and technologies that can provide the optimal interface between each building and its surrounding site, climate and historical context, developing and validating the energy interface between historical buildings and urban infrastructure, to ensure optimal energy efficiency, promoting user-centred development of technology, products, and services in order to provide a high-quality energy-efficient built environment.
How can this demand be reconciled with the Italian situation with its huge historical architectural heritage, consisting of buildings, entire urban area and archaeological sites of great importance. Urban areas in their great variety are the product of on-going processes. As such, they necessarily reflect the intentions and needs of their various historic periods as well as their existing, environmental, economic and socio-cultural situations. While the resulting fabric reflects the diversity of human creative spirit, it also encompasses a form of continuity that gives a particular identity to each area. This architectural heritage deserves particular attention in a sustainable design approach, in terms of energy efficiency and preservation of identity.
This is the basic motivation that guides our research: to validate methods and techniques for the profound understanding of heritage structures, to develop appropriate simulation tools, to keep to a minimum any alterations (which must be reversible, particularly with regard to the installation of service plant) and to give particular attention to the introduction of new materials. The process of historical evaluation, the assessment of physical-environmental characteristics and the evaluation of changes induced by climate change on the processes of degradation and conservation, consolidation and recovery as well as the development of methodologies related to more conscious use of energy and materials, are linked in the IBAM activity in a sustainable approach to the fragile nature of this heritage.
This type of challenge certainly requires strong synergies between disciplines seemingly very different but intimately connected to each other.
In this context the IBAM is engaged on these issues thanks to its activities deriving both from research projects and from assignments received from other public bodies.
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