Score - Sustainable Construction in Rural and Fragile Areas for Energy efficiency

The following guidelines come from a deep analysis of case studies, norms and regulations, in relation to the local level. This analysis is summarized in a card that can be downloaded in Italian language.

Today we can no longer ask "whether it makes sense", but "what can happen in a near future even if we do not start changing our mindset," because we live ecologically and socially very dangerous outcomes and these situations is possible only 'Or you start to build more awareness. 
Normally, the expenditure for a material or for a technical solution is composed of a material cost and an environmental cost - social, which depends on many factors, such as availability, the use of energy for the production, the possibility of recycling and the disposability of materials, therefore, all stages of their life. The market is certainly not dominated by the logic-or at least not very sensitive to environmental issues of recovery and energy savings, but now all these factors can not be forgotten by anyone, especially when restructuring or building a house, where you pass a important part of our life, that of the rest and personal care and family.
Unfortunately, in regulatory terms is not yet compulsory for manufacturers to give specific and detailed about how production of themselves, so it is difficult at present to identify a truly natural product obtained from a simple natural substances. In general, ecological materials are those that require low power consumption and have a minimum generation of waste at all stages of their life, production, use and disposal once exhausted their cycle. It is therefore natural substances, biodegradable and easily recyclable as, for example, wood, cork, cotton, linen, wool and wood fiber insulating.
The places of origin affect prices and very often the quality. In general, costs are lower where there is greater demand for these materials may happen to find some good products to figures contained in Austria, Germany or other European countries. First, there is therefore a need to deal urgently with the environmental issues and awareness and use of energy resources as a whole. The technology can be used to simplify and to make complex organisms living and working, because it is required in the energy balance also the factors of production materials. Should be the preferred options that allow a house to live almost "own energy" through careful design, choice of materials and the correct methods of implementation thereof, and the option for renewable energy sources.
Fundamental in the thrust towards this change, a drastic stance now ten years since the European Union itself on building activity and energy savings: one fast approaching, now, the date fixed for the year 2021, the year after from which, according to the latest EU directives, all public and private buildings of new construction must be fully autonomous in terms of meeting its energy needs. As part of this supranational macro-perspective, which involves binding agreements with all member countries, our country can not and should not be caught unprepared for this important deadline: must be aware that the European objectives in terms of reduction of CO2 emissions and renewable energy will not be achieved without a progressive change in the construction industry, both those built from scratch and, above all, of those already existing, which will be progressively rehabilitated and rationally.
 However, there are national and even regional level a number of issues / constraints related to the process of production, distribution and supply of sustainable materials:

• the presence of the leading manufacturers and suppliers of building materials in Liguria is greatly reduced compared to other Italian regions.
• despite the encouraging data of the national growth reported by the National Building Regulations for energy efficiency, building regulations at the local level, excluding some interesting initiatives, do not promote at full capacity, incentives or discounts for homes with low consumption building or construction of "passive houses", consisting of a discount on urbanization costs, possible increases in cubic capacity of buildings, building rights constraints in some areas of sustainable construction and funding via competitive doc.
• at the expense of a sufficient and valid technical training, current legislation is not yet fully implemented because of difficulties arising from the mismatch between the actual local situation and requirements that are imposed by the same rules.
• despite the increased sensitivity to green building, the Ligurian companies in the market did not yet reach a homogeneous distribution in the region. Currently, the difficulty of availability of materials and the costs that would occur for the supply of materials from sites outside the region are considered deterrents to awareness and then to the predisposition towards sustainable architectural choices.

To a greater spread of new construction, redevelopment of the existing, recovery / restoration of historic buildings and operations from scratch in terms of "sustainable choice" materials, may, with respect to the constraints and issues identified, to be useful the following initiatives:

• a local supply of raw materials or finished products at least, would help reduce transport costs and therefore the impact on the level of environmental pollution due to means of transport used.
• he laws should provide incentives for producers of raw materials and semifinished products, which could adapt their productions to the request of "sustainable market" that is constantly growing.
• crucial role of liaison and coordination done by state agencies, regional and provincial, which are exactly halfway between the European Directives, strict but general, and municipal regulations, equally rigid but absolutely specific for a given territorial reality.
• referring to the law if well implemented can profoundly change the construction industry in several aspects: qualify and innovate the business making it possible for workers to improve skills and employment protection, with the use of our building schools to offer training and research on the topic and ensure a quality product to protect consumers, public and private, to give a positive image of the area that would no longer be seen as a destroyer of the environment that respects the environmental and research and service to a balanced development . It would be useful for the elaboration of a "pact" virtual manufacturers through which you bring your attention on these problems and has as its purpose the promotion of experiences that place is centered around the "research, innovation, vocational training, protection of worker and consumer, the training and promotion of companies most sensitive and accurate. "

Indication for the Bio-construction Action Plan

According to the guidelines mentioned above, are briefly highlighted below criteria for pilot projects to be funded in the territories MED, in relation to the specific subject matter hereof.
These criteria, along with those for the other issues highlighted in the array of eco-contruction tools, form the Bio-Action Plan articulated construction for the various partner countries.

• Encourage inter-municipal projects that are based on actual intention to implement constructive processes, how to better quality housing, but also to a better living, while protecting the environment and the specific characteristics of each country / area, as well as local traditions: the goal is not to mark the difference between the municipalities more virtuous and less virtuous, but rather to create a good arena to stimulate shared choices and actions more environmentally sustainable.
• Implement the potential of the sector "sustainable building" from the production of materials and their widespread distribution in the territory through a network of distributors and retailers, the training of workers in the construction industry through courses organized by the Schools Construction and associations industry, from regional incentives and / or municipal level for the end user and the adoption of sustainable building regulations designed to promote and regulate sustainable building development in the municipality, by directing users to an appropriate use of methods, technologies and materials aimed to less use of natural resources and reduced environmental impact.

Possible criteria for MED bio-housing quality certificate

The international certification systems, typically provide guidelines regarding the use of materials in relation to new construction, redevelopment of the existing, recovery / restoration of historic buildings and operations from scratch based on criteria for applying the principles of building quality biosostenibile.
In particular, for the most widespread Italian certification system, called "Protocol Itaca", the Italian version of "Green Building Challenge", for example regarding the use of materials, we can find any mention in Schedule A of Itaca Liguria. The Regional Programme for Social Housing also promotes the realization of building projects biosostenibile and in particular emphasizes that the interventions will still favor the use of eco-friendly, biobased, recycled and / or recovery.
In order to estimate the level of environmental quality of a building, measuring performance in relation to resource consumption and environmental burdens, interventions under the Regional Programme for the benefit of additional financing for green building must meet specific criteria related to system sustainability assessment entitled "Protocol ITACA," which uses the scale of performance defined by the international Green Building Challenge and that, for the part relating to energy consumption, incorporates the provisions of DL192/05.The scoring system allows you to estimate the level of environmental quality of a building, and verify the operation to complete, measuring their performance against 9 criteria. Unfortunately, however, between these criteria, despite the exhortation cited above, the use of sustainable materials is not subject to evaluation. These recommendations, definitely useful for the purpose of a Ligurian strategy for environmental certification, should be implemented with criteria that take account of possible intervention strategies at a local level taking into account the possibility of local availability of potentially employable, preferring those that come from renewable and recycling processes without excluding innovative materials from the most recent scientific research.
The certification of environmental sustainability LEED NC 2009 Italy instead provides a set of evaluation criteria, very interesting for the purposes of a suitable environmental certification, for equipment and resources (MR) - Credit 1/7 - with the aim of reducing the amount of waste generated by building occupants that are transported and disposed of in landfill, extend the life cycle of existing building stock, conserve resources, preserve cultural heritage, reducing waste and environmental impact of new buildings in relation to production and transportation of materials, recyclable recovered resources to re-enter the production process, reuse of materials and construction products in order to reduce demand for virgin materials and the production of waste, thereby limiting the environmental impacts associated with extraction and processing of raw materials and increase demand for building products with recycled content, thereby reducing impacts resulting from extraction and processing of virgin materials, to increase demand for building materials and products extracted and processed short range, thus supporting the use of local resources and reducing environmental impacts from transport, promote the use of transport with limited environmental impact such as rail or sea, reducing the use and exploitation of raw materials and materials for a long cycle of renewal, replacing them with rapidly renewable materials. Indoor environmental quality chapter (IQ) it says some criteria - Credit 4.1/4.4 - Evaluation related materials with the purpose of reducing contaminants in the building that are odorous, irritating and / or harmful to the comfort and well-being of installers and occupants.

Case studies

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