Remarks on the green retrofitting of historic buildings in Italy

The latest European Union programs related to energy efficiency underline the need for the retrofitting of existing buildings, which are responsible for 40% of the Union’s final energy consumption. Although new buildings can be constructed with high performance levels, the vast majority of the building stock, which is characterized by a low energy performance, still needs renovation works. Thanks to its potential to deliver high energy and CO2 savings, the green retrofitting of existing buildings can thus play a pivotal role in creating a sustainable future for the Union. In this context, interventions on buildings constructed before 1945 (commonly defined as “historic buildings”) mean a higher benefit /cost ratio, because, in many cases, green retrofitting can be linked to unavoidable refurbishment works and the renovated building can take on an interesting market value. However, an important part of these historic buildings in Italy is composed of cultural heritage buildings; these buildings require a specific design approach, and green retrofitting is often not attractive from an economic point of view. The remarks reported in this work have the aim of stimulating a discussion on the operational procedures, barriers and challenges that investors, professional figures and supervisory authorities can encounter when they are engaged in the green retrofitting of historic buildings belonging to Italian cultural heritage.