Environmental sustainability in scholastic facilities: an integrated assessment of building and food

A methodology for the integrated sustainability assessment of schools facilities is presented together with its application to a case study in Milan. The study uses quantitative indicators such as non-renewable primary energy to quantify the total amount of energy used by student related to building energy consumption for comfort conditions and to food embodied energy consumed in the school canteen ( from agricultural production to the cooking stage).The result is a critical review of possible sustainability improvements of the school service. In particular heating and electricity uses and food consumption are shown in the form of nonrenewable primary energy. The final part describes the main improving strategies and measures their effectiveness in terms of primary energy reduction, expressed in terms of MJ per student per year of nonrenewable energy. The proposed strategies include improvement measures on building envelope and on diet changes towards low energy scenarios.