An Integrated Economic-Energy-Environmental Framework for the Assessment of Alternative Eco-Sustainable Building Designs

Abstract

The International Energy Agency (2019) states 40% of CO2 emissions in cities are linked to the buildings stock, in particular to heating and cooling systems, material types and users’ performance. According to Green New Deal, the energy transition of buildings is becoming a priority. This is via investments with low environmental impacts through renewable energy sources. The paper describes an integrated economic-energy-environmental framework (IE3F), i.e., an economic evaluation protocol for new constructions and/or existing renewal projects aimed at supporting the choice phase between alternative technological solutions based on biocompatible materials. The IE3F borrows the logical-operative flow of the life cycle assessment multi-criteria approach. The value aspects translated into monetary terms that characterize the project life cycle are taken into account. The protocol was tested on an emergency project in Italy, namely in Messina City. The results obtained provide evidence of the versatile use of IE3F and its practical utility to guide economic convenience judgements on building investments and choice problems between alternatives in sustainable perspective. The research deepening will be about keeping track of multiple performance levels of the construction, not only the energy performance, and attempting to estimate the corresponding economic value in terms of increase/decrease of construction cost value.