Evaluation of the space heating need in residential buildings at territorial scale: the case of Canton Ticino (CH)

Due to the energy and environmental emergencies, in the last decades, goals, standards, regulations and incentives have been defined according to governmental strategies and regulations at national or local level. Referring to the built environment, this implies a knowledge of the energy performance of the building stock that instead is still poor. A method able to characterize the energy performance of the built environment at territorial scale was developed. It follows a simplified procedure that takes into account: data available in the Energy Certificate of Buildings database, data about the age of the buildings and the energy reference surfaces available in official statistics database. The method was applied to residential buildings in Canton Ticino, in southern Switzerland. The results achieved were compared to information available in the Cantonal Energy Balance, with regards to gas fueled residential buildings. The comparison reveals the global reliability of the method if applied at territorial scale. This method could support energy policies at regional/urban level, in order to stimulate a rational and massive refurbishment of the built environment. Further improvements are in progress in order to provide a territorial representation of results by a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tool.