Paola Boarin1, Daniele Guglielmino2, Marco Zuppiroli3

1 University of Ferrara – Department of Architecture – Architettura>Energia Research Centre, via della Ghiara n. 36 – Ferrara (IT), paola.boarin@unife.it

2 Green Building Council Italia, daniele.guglielmino@gbcitalia.org

3 University of Ferrara – Department of Architecture – Labo.R.A. Laboratory, via Quartieri n. 8 – Ferrara (IT), marco.zuppiroli@unife.it

Existing buildings with historic and testimonial value represent a significant asset in Italy. The improvement of existing building’s performance, by deep renovation or operational strategies, is also a priority set by the European Community through the recent directives on energy efficiency (2012/27/EU). Recognition of building’s historic value must be an integrated part of a sustainable process aimed at the preservation and enhancement of all the previous expressions of the building. Green Building Council Italia is moving within this cultural context with the main goal, developed through an interdisciplinary working group, of the establishment of a voluntary certification protocol aimed at evaluating the sustainability level of restoration, refurbishment and integration in pre-industrial buildings. This innovative tool is based on the comparison and union of two different cultures: the sustainability criteria of the LEED® protocol and the wealth of knowledge of the restoration world, with the ultimate goal of identification, enhancement and transmission of the cultural heritage to the future generations. The paper presents the development process of the new rating system GBC Historic Building™, its main feature, also considering the contribution and potentiality given by the first registered case study, a building of rural spontaneous housing built in the late nineteenth century in Guarene, in the Province of Cuneo (Italy).

Historic buildings, restoration, LEED®, rating system, sustainability.