The economic and environmental sustainability in the choice of materials to improve the performances of existing buildings

Abstract

The concept of sustainability in the construction industry cannot, above all in this historical moment, include in its parameters considerations about economic, social and environmental factors. All this factors are deeply connected with the context, both for climatic reasons and for economic and social reasons. Technical valuations about the choice and use of materials must be motivated by reality in which we work, in the perspective of quality of process as satisfaction of the users but also, in this case, of the producers. The aim of the proposed study is the valutation and individuation of suitable materials for the improvement of the energetic performances of existing buildings which would be performanti for the climate of Sicily, competitive for price and requisites and of local production. The existing buildings in Sicily are in alarming conditions and rehabilitation interventions, above all in public buildings, needs economic responsibilities which are often impossible to take for the administrations. Different materials usable for passive interventions on the existing buildings will be examined, connected with the applications on two representative cases of the constructive typologies of the region:masonry structure and reinforced concrete structure. The analysis will be made both with the Life Cycle Assessment and the Life Cycle Costing basing on considerations about the local productions of materials for coats, therefore the sustainable materials analyzed adopted in the emblematic cases will be compared. The study could represent the basis for in-depth analysis and applications and the guidelines suitable for many buildings of the region.