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Improvement of the Sustainability of Existing School Buildings According to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) ® Protocol: A Case Study in Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Giuliano Dall'O'

    (Architecture, Building Environment and Construction Engineering (A.B.C.) Department, Polytechnic of Milan, Via E. Bonardi 9, Milano 10133, Italy)

  • Elisa Bruni

    (SACERT, Corso di Porta Vittoria 27, Milano 20122, Italy)

  • Angela Panza

    (Architecture, Building Environment and Construction Engineering (A.B.C.) Department, Polytechnic of Milan, Via E. Bonardi 9, Milano 10133, Italy)

Abstract

School-age students spend much of their time in school buildings. The sustainability of these buildings should be a priority as better comfort with a high indoor air quality contributes to an improvement in the conditions for learning. Although new school buildings are often built with high standards of sustainability and energy efficiency, the existing school building stock is generally characterised by very poor quality. The energy retrofit of existing school buildings in recent years is part of the policies of the European Union and, consequently, of the Member States. However, rarely do these measures consider aspects other than energy. This paper proposes and discusses a feasibility study which provides a considerable improvement in the environmental quality of 14 school buildings located in northern Italy: the objective is to ensure the requirements for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) ® certification. The analysis considers both the technical and economic aspects. The study shows that there is a technical feasibility: the credits are between 42 and 54, moreover the major cost (the cost of building envelope and heating systems retrofit is 82.9% of the total cost) is due to the improvement of energy efficiency. The improvement of sustainability is therefore a reasonable strategy even if the application of the LEED Protocol in the Italian context involves some critical issues that are discussed in the paper.

Suggested Citation

  • Giuliano Dall'O' & Elisa Bruni & Angela Panza, 2013. "Improvement of the Sustainability of Existing School Buildings According to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) ® Protocol: A Case Study in Italy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 6(12), pages 1-21, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:6:y:2013:i:12:p:6487-6507:d:31391
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Santamouris, M. & Balaras, C.A. & Dascalaki, E. & Argiriou, A. & Gaglia, A., 1994. "Energy consumption and the potential for energy conservation in school buildings in Hellas," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 19(6), pages 653-660.
    2. Dall'O', Giuliano & Bruni, Elisa & Sarto, Luca, 2013. "An Italian pilot project for zero energy buildings: Towards a quality-driven approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 840-846.
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    Cited by:

    1. Paolo Maria Congedo & Delia D’Agostino & Cristina Baglivo & Giuliano Tornese & Ilaria Zacà, 2016. "Efficient Solutions and Cost-Optimal Analysis for Existing School Buildings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-24, October.
    2. Castleberry, Becca & Gliedt, Travis & Greene, J. Scott, 2016. "Assessing drivers and barriers of energy-saving measures in Oklahoma’s public schools," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 216-228.
    3. Fabio Bisegna & Benedetta Mattoni & Paola Gori & Francesco Asdrubali & Claudia Guattari & Luca Evangelisti & Sara Sambuco & Francesco Bianchi, 2016. "Influence of Insulating Materials on Green Building Rating System Results," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-17, September.
    4. Cristina Brunelli & Francesco Castellani & Alberto Garinei & Lorenzo Biondi & Marcello Marconi, 2016. "A Procedure to Perform Multi-Objective Optimization for Sustainable Design of Buildings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-15, November.
    5. Hong Sheng Huang & Chung Hwei Su & Cheng Bang Li & Ching Yuan Lin & Chun Chou Lin, 2016. "Enhancement of Fire Safety of an Existing Green Building due to Natural Ventilation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-28, March.

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