Sustainable Renovation of Historical Buildings: Concepts for Solar Integration

摘要

The renovation and the requalification of historical buildings is always a delicate task, especially when the energy needs of today's society and the preservation of our cultural heritage have to be fulfilled at the same time. It is thus necessary to develop measures which can ensure that also these typology of buildings can contribute to a sustainable development without risking to damage irreplaceable historical values. Nonetheless, to prevent an indiscriminate use of solar applications, and to invest economic and space resources in the most effective possible way, various methods of utilization have to be analyzed in order to find a proper balance between technical and aesthetic requirements. The market offers today a number of innovative and advanced products for building integration that can be used in sensitive built environment, i.e. historical centers and can be more acceptable in naturalistic contexts where buildings need energy supply, but the design of solar installations integrated in historical buildings are essential for guaranteeing that the visual appearance of the modules and the grid formed by the modules together fulfill both energy needs and architectural heritage preservation. The purpose of this work is to formalize a set of criteria and recommendations which allow us to define a suitable procedure when using solar technologies in the urban environment, especially on buildings whose architectural, historical or cultural features need to be considered most carefully.