Energy retrofitting of historical buildings in Mediterranean areas

The most suitable intervention for energy rehabilitation of historical buildingshas to reach both the goal of the optimization of the energy saving and the preservation ofthe original characteristics of the building. The possibility of restoring these historicbuildings, re-utilizing them for a different purpose, and requalifying them with a view toreducing energy consumption, is an interesting issue for the city of Catania (Italy), if weconsider that the abandoned buildings in the city centre currently represent a significantpart of the architectural heritage. The method of intervention proposed to give abandonedhistoric buildings a new energy-saving efficiency was applied to a building in the OldTown of Catania which had served until the early nineteen-eighties as a foundry for therealization of works in cast iron. The interventions to be carried out on the buildingenvelope are designed to meet the requirements connected with the new destination of thebuilding. The strategies employed aim to adopt technological solutions in perfect harmonywith the new requirements and to regulate the thermo-hygrometric conditions of theelements comprising the outer walls in order to respect the transmittance limitsestablished by the current energy-saving laws. The final result of the study aims to supplyindications which, taking into account the individual characteristics of the different casesstudied, may be repeated within the same context, both at a local district level and at thatof the entire historic centre, whenever a common matrix may be discovered for theenvironmental characteristics, the construction techniques and the materials used.