Environmental sustainability LAB
The laboratory is involved in the definition of tools for assessing the sustainability of buildings.
The tools allow to analyze the performance of buildings of any intended use and life stage in relation to the major environmental, economic and social issues with regard to sustainability in construction. The result is a performance score that allows the classification of the building according to a quality scale, reported in a certificate of national and international value.
In general, the development phases of the evaluation tools include the following: choice of criteria on which to base the assessment of environmental sustainability of the building in relation to its intended use, “weigthing” which consists in assigning relative weights to individual criteria which will contribute to the definition of the final score and “benchmarking” that allows to identify, for each criterion, a reference scale performance with which to compare the technological and design solutions of the building being assessed. Assessment tools are developed on the basis of a methodology, the SBMethod, which is the result of an international process coordinated by iiSBE (International Initiative for a Sustainable Environment Buinding) called Green Building Challenge which over time brought together more than 25 nations from all continents.
At national level:
• (2004-2013) Participation in the Committee of the ITACA Protocol Management, through a memorandum of understanding with ITACA (Federal Association of Italian Regions and Autonomous Provinces), and iiSBE Italia, Italian chapter of iiSBE. The ITACA Protocol is the evaluation system of environmental sustainability level of buildings approved by the Conference of Presidents of the Italian Regions in January 2004. In this area, the laboratory has contributed to the development and updating of the “ITACA Protocol” for different intended uses;
• (2007-2013) support to the regions in the contextualisation and implementation of the ITACA Protocol as part of the definition of their certification system and to support sustainable building initiatives (Regione Marche, Puglia, Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Piedmont);
• (2011) promotion, in partnership with iiSBE Italia to the initiative called ESIT® (Sustainable Construction Italy) within which it is possible to certify and guarantee the sustainability of buildings;
• (2012-2013) participation within the framework of ACCREDIA in the definition of Technical Regulation “RT-33 – Requirements for the accreditation of inspection bodies of type A, B and C pursuant to UNI CEI EN ISO / IEC 17020 in accordance with the “Protocol ITACA” and the conversion of the protocol in UNI practice.
At international level:
• (2009) ITC is the founder of SBA (Sustainable Building Alliance), an organization to promote harmonization between the sustainability certification systems of the members states;
• (2014) ITC is a member of CESBA (Common European Sustainable Building Assessment), European platform which aims to make sustainability a building standard approach. CESBA is supported by the European Commission through the funding of research projects dedicated to it.
Laboratory Activities
Assessment of sustainability on an urban scale
Within the project INTEGRATED and in partnership with IRCRES-CNR a multicriteria tool is being developed to support urban-scale decisions for the evaluation of aspects of environmental, social and economic sustainability, applicable to both neighborhood and municipal level. The instrument aims to support policy makers in the case of projects of new interventions or urban regeneration actions in a smart and sustainable way to assess and monitor the best solutions, in relation to predefined performance targets.
Assessment and certification of buildings
Within the framework of ESIT® it is possible to certify the level of sustainability of: residential and commercial buildings, offices educational, industrial and high-rise buildings using the”ITACA Protocol”.
Buildings assessed and certified or under assessment / certification:
• Shopping centers Ipercoop – Sesto Fiorentino (FI), MediaMarket -Marcon (VE) and Leroy Merlin – Beinasco (TO);
• Polo iGuzzini Light, Recanati (MC);
• New HQ2 Pirelli R. E., Milan;
• Preliminary project of skyscraper Intesa San Paolo, Turin;
• Private residential buildings and buildings under the “Program House 10,000 housing by 2012” of the Piedmont Region;
• Ongoing: Final design and as-built stage of the new headquarters skyscraper of the Piedmont Region, Turin.
The Indoor Environmental Quality Certification
Through the ESIT® initiative, it is possible to certify the level of environmental quality of indoor workplaces (offices / tertiary) with the “IEQ Protocol tool” (Indoor Environmental Quality).
The “IEQ Protocol” certificate is issued following a process of on-site analysis and instrumental checks. If the indoor environment is the subject of a redevelopment / renovation activitiy, it is possible to obtain a certificate of indoor environmental quality also at the planning stage. The certificate confirms compliance with technical standards and with legal requirements on the subject of comfort in the workplace, and indicates the overall environmental quality value achieved by a score ranging from -1 to 5.
The Unicredit Street Nice Offices in Turin have got a IEQ Certification with a 3.5 / 5 score.
Environmental efficiency of construction products
Through a specific qualification process, within the ESIT® initiative, businesses have the opportunity to obtain the environmental statement of their products called “Eco-profile ITACA® Protocol”, aimed at obtaining the environmental statement Type III, regulated by the standard UNI EN ISO 14025: 2010 “environmental labels and declarations – type III environmental declarations – Principles and procedures”. In particular, ITC-CNR activities in the assessment of the environmental performance of buildings materials include:
• LCA of building materials / products with the quantification of the environmental impacts in accordance with both national (UNI EN 15804) and international legislation (ISO 14040 and ISO 14044) also in order to obtain the Eco-profile ITACA® Protocol;
• validation of the LCA analysis of building materials / products for obtaining of ‘Eco-profile ITACA® Protocol;
• development and issuing of the dossier ITACA® protocol which contains:
– technical specifications of the product;
– any certificates already issued to the product;
– Eco-profile ITACA® Protocol with the quantification of the environmental impacts in accordance with national (UNI EN 15804) and international legislation (ISO 14040 and ISO 14044);
– correlation sheet with the protocol assessment tool National ITACA® allowing to identify the possible contribution of the product to the final rating of the building and compliance with the evaluation criteria.
The products “Marcotherm Rock”, Marcotherm EPS and “Marcotherm Color” Colorificio San Marco Spa obtained the ecoprofile ITACA® Protocol.