Minimum environmental criteria in the architectural project. Trade-off between environmental, economic and social sustainability [I Criteri Ambientali Minimi nel progetto di architettura. Trade-off tra sostenibilità ambientale, economica e sociale]

In response to the European directives on procurement in 2004, strongly based on environmental issues, Italy makes it a legal obligation to apply the Minimum Environmental Criteria (MEC) through the Legislative Decree 50/2016, subsequently amended by the Legislative Decree 56/2017, governing the assignment of contracts of sale, public contracts and procurement procedures for entities operating. MEC are born with the aim of reducing environmental impacts, promoting more sustainable production systems and models and reducing consumption. The achievement of the sustainability in the field of construction sector thus is mandatory even if it remains a topic debated by theorists and designers especially in recent years. Sustainability, intended in a broader sense, considers not only environmental but also economic and social aspects and it becomes a challenge to combine and satisfy all the dimensions involved. In most of the cases it becomes necessary to find a trade-off since it is difficult to be able to optimize one aspect without compromising another one, especially when environmental and energy performance and the cost of the intervention are considered. The present work aims to clarify the procedures for the application of MEC for the selection of tenders, and to be a support in the drafting of a call for tenders for the evaluation of the Most Economically Advantageous Offer (MEAO), showing its criticality and strengths and trying to combine environmental, economic and social issues.