Energy and Environmental Retrofit of Existing School Buildings: Potentials and Limits in the Large-Scale Planning

This chapter summarizes the results of research activities promoted by a 2 group of researchers working in ABC Department—Politecnico di Milano aimed at 3 energy and environmental requalification of school buildings located in the Lombardy 4 region (Italy). The buildings subject to energy audits have been selected considering 5 various factors, including the type of user (e.g. kindergartens, elementary schools, 6 middle schools, etc.), construction period, construction technology and degrada-7 tion. The methodological approach considers energy retrofit scenarios with different 8 energy performance targets and required investments. The results of the research, 9 which is concerned with a substantial and diversified existing building stock, provide 10 public administrators decision-making tools and indicators supporting the energy 11 and environmental retrofit actions for the existing schools. Although the potential 12 for energy savings and reduced environmental impact is important in all scenarios, 13 the achievement of very high energy performance targets is not always economically 14 convenient and is sometimes technically impossible to reach. Large-scale energy 15 planning, therefore, always requires in-depth energy audits that allow defining the 16 optimal energy performance targets. The research activities demonstrate that it is 17 convenient, when the energy performance of a building is improved, to consider also 18 the environmental aspects. For some sample school buildings simulation analyses 19 were carried out in accordance with the LEED® protocol, and the higher cost due to 20 environmental enhancement (e.g. the choice of ecological materials, the recycling of 21 demolition materials or the use of renewable energy sources) is absolutely acceptable 22 in the intervention economy