Improving the energy-efficiency of historic masonry buildings. A casestudy: A minor centre in the Abruzzo region, Italy

The high cost of energy, along with an urgent need to reduce global worming causing emissions, hascontributed to the rethinking of contemporary design and building techniques. It also brought to theforefront the need to increase the energy performance of heritage buildings. Italy’s Abruzzo region hasmany small towns with old structures. The earthquake that struck the area in 2009 caused significantdestruction to many communities and buildings. The need to rebuild led to a series of interventionsaiming not only at reconstructing, but also at increasing the structure’s energy performance. This paperdescribes a study of Abruzzo’s historic buildings and proposes interventions to improve their energy-efficiency. The authors developed a methodology based on an on-site investigation and the study ofcompatible possible solutions. The first phase includes a series of thermal measurements, using bothindirect and qualitative methods such as thermography and direct and quantitative methods. With theinformation gathered, it was possible to verify the energy performance of each solution based on thelevel of invasiveness of the proposed intervention. The proposed methodology serves as a guide torecovery design, using a “case by case” approach to identify the method of intervention in each valuecontext.