Energy Retrofitting of Social Housing Stock in northern Italy.
Silvia Piccione1
1 MSc Sustainable Environmental Design, AA E+E, Environment and Energy Studies Programme,
Architectural Association School of Architecture, 36 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3ES.
Abstract
This research addresses the issue of energy retrofitting of 1970s social housing stock in northern Italy, still existing estates of multi-storey, concrete prefabricated developments, constructed in diverse Italian cities. The research identifies environmental advantages and limitations in the additional sunspace for the Italian climatic “zone E”. Moving from knowledge gained through the analysis of existing examples of solar buildings developed under the U.P.S.E. European demonstration Project (1979-1983), the research explores technological aspects and amenity values of passive solar systems, paying particular attention to maintenance and management aspects which have resulted over time. The methodology framework is based on an analysis, consisting of in-situ fieldwork and thermal simulation of a case study building model, the Orbassano Solar Tower. Using the Energy Indexes reported in the official UPSE documentation, a performance reference level has been set as the basis for retrofitting analysis.
Several alternative retrofitting solutions are evaluated and compared to cost effectiveness parameters.
Keywords: energy retrofitting, sunspace, passive solar design, Italian social housing, building heritage rehabilitation.