ISIS Facchinetti: a nearly zero energy retrofit in Italy

The research presented here is about the energy retrofit of an existing high school building close to Varese (Italy). As the building was designed in the 60's with a peculiar architectural language, it has been protected by the conservation authorities. However, the construction system in exposed concrete and the large expanses of single glass make the energy performance of the building very poor. The Provincia di Varese, owner of the building, decided to realize an exemplary retrofit project, which would be the first renovated educational building in Italy in line with the future scenario of Nearly Zero-Energy Building expected from 2019 (2021 for private buildings) by the European Directive 2010/31/UE. In this work energetic and payback analysis are developed to delineate three different preliminary scenarios of intervention. The process has always followed discussions with the conservation authorities, which contributed to the definition of realistic scenarios. Interesting results are obtained: a potential energy demand reduction of 70% can be obtained with the passive solutions proposed; in combination with active strategies (efficient mechanical systems and controls) and with the integration of photovoltaic panels (BiPV), the overall energy need of the building can be reduced to nearly zero. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.