Alla ricerca del comfort negli edifici storici non monumentali

Conservation of built heritage and energy saving are distinct objectives partially in conflict with each other; yet these topical issues must be considered and sol- ved together. In Italy, where cities such as Venice, Urbino, Florence and Rome are themselves monuments, it is not possible to separate a monumental building from the monumentality of the city as a whole. On the other hand, dozens of small Italian municipalities are jewels of urban architecture due to the widespread quality of the buildings that compose them. When dealing with energy savings in historic buil- dings, it is not possible to propose a simple addition of insulation to the envelope without considering formal qualities, external finishes, thermal mass as well as the technical and legal problems that the additional layer can entail. To successfully intervene on heritage buildings, it is necessary to under-stand their hygrothermal behaviour associated with large thermal mass and unusual built form, and to provide new technical solutions developed ad hoc for building heritage. Finally, the importance of user behaviour in the operation of a building should also be discussed. The current Italian legislation on the matter only requires to consider two elements when evaluating building energy consumption: technical solutions for improving the performance of the building envelope and heating systems, without any reference or attention to the user behaviour, which, in some cases, can be as important as than the building performance itself.