Promoting Sustainable and Climate-Neutral Buildings: Insights from Italy

Mariadonata Bancher of the Agenzia CasaClima (KlimaHaus Agentur) recently presented the MESTRI-CE project, highlighting the crucial role that building standards play in fostering sustainable and climate-neutral buildings across Europe. The presentation was part of a broader discussion on the challenges and opportunities posed by new European regulations in the building sector.   The New EPBD and Italy: Challenges and Current Status Eng. Nicola Calabrese from ENEA delivered an in-depth presentation titled “The Challenges of the New EPBD for Italy.” Calabrese outlined the primary aspects and upcoming deadlines of the new European Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), providing a comprehensive overview of Italy’s current building stock. Using data from SIAPE (Italian Information System on EPCs), he detailed the energy performance of existing buildings in Italy and illustrated the practical implications of the new EPBD with a case study on Italian school buildings.   Greenroad Project: Facilitating Energy Retrofitting Investments Anna Amato, a researcher at ENEA, shared insights from the Greenroad project (Growing Energy Efficiency through National Roundtables Addresses), funded by Horizon 2020. The project’s objective was to demonstrate the effectiveness of using round tables to encourage investment in energy retrofitting of Italy’s building stock. This approach helps promote market-driven changes and address real needs. One significant outcome was a proposal to modify the National Energy Efficiency Fund to overcome its primary criticisms.   Local Energy Agencies: Key Players in Sustainability Pier Gabriele Andreoli, President of the National Network of Local Energy Agencies (RENAEL), emphasized the pivotal role of local energy agencies in implementing new European sustainability instruments in the building sector.   Engaging Discussions and Identifying Barriers Following the presentations, the speakers engaged in a Q&A session with the audience, culminating in a round table discussion. The discussion focused on the following key questions:

1. What are the major gaps and barriers at the national or regional level that hinder or prevent the transformation of new and existing building stock according to sustainability and climate-neutral criteria?
2. What are the main challenges and needs identified by building professionals and developers to comply with the latest building requirements (EU taxonomy, new EPBD, GPP, etc.) and to achieve EU climate neutrality goals?
3. What are the opportunities and risks associated with applying sustainability and climate-neutrality criteria to buildings?

The consensus among the speakers was that a significant obstacle in Italy is the lack of clear and stable funding from public sources. This uncertainty also hampers financial planning for banks and other institutions. Additionally, there is a pressing need for building professionals and developers to enhance their knowledge and skills to meet the new building regulations and requirements. This presents a new challenge for training institutions, including Local Energy Agencies.   Opportunities for a Sustainable Future The application of sustainability and climate-neutrality criteria in buildings offers numerous benefits, such as reduced energy consumption, lower pollution levels, and improved indoor conditions. However, for these benefits to be accessible to all, it is essential to ensure that everyone, regardless of financial means, can participate in and benefit from such interventions.   The presentations and subsequent discussions underscored the critical need for collaborative efforts and innovative solutions to overcome the barriers to achieving sustainable and climate-neutral buildings in Italy and across Europe.