Positive energy buildings in the regeneration of urban peripheries in the Mediterranean areas

Energy refurbishment of existing building plays an important role in the reduction of fossil fuel use and CO2 emissions, and represents an active mitigation action against the global warming. In our cities, most of existing building were built without any energy standards and consequently, they consume 40% of natural resources used in industrialized countries. Energy savings in the buildings sector cannot be delayed so that Europe has issued directives that require immediate action. In particular, the Directive 2012/27/EU [1] establishes a set of binding measures for further energy efficiency in buildings and reduce their environmental impact in the coming years. This paper describes the initial phases of a research in collaboration with the Regional Agency for home and living of central Apulia (Arca Puglia Centrale) that aims to study and implement systems and building technologies for the redevelopment of the public housing. The paper proposes an innovative retrofitting system, which integrates traditional thermal plant with renewable energies (solar and photovoltaic) and passive modules (vegetation shelters, buffer space, water collectors). The performances of this system, adaptable to any type of building, were simulated in different configurations in order to quantify the benefits in terms of energy saving and energy production from renewable sources. The first results are very encouraging: the proposed system allows existing building to achieve the targets of positive energy building.