RERoadS
Renovation and Education Roadmaps for healty and resilient School building towards carbon neutrality
Project info
Funding programme: Progetti di Ricerca di rilevante Interesse Nazionale (PRIN) – Bando 2022
Start date: 04th February 2025
End date: 03rd February 2027
Research Units: Università Politecnica delle Marche (Principal Investigator, prof. E. Di Giuseppe), Università degli Studi di Brescia (vice PI, prof. M. M. Sesana), Politecnico di Milano (prof. A. G. Mainini)
Descrizione del progetto
In Italy, 65% of school buildings are older than 45 years, totally energy and climate inefficient and with poor Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ). The imperative urgency of renovation of these buildings towards the objective of carbon neutrality and improvement of air quality (facing current and future pandemics) is on the political agenda and raises the need for effective tools and strategies for use on a large scale. However most school owners lack technical and financial resources to retrofit them in a comprehensive way with adequate time and priority planning. Moreover, actual renovation projects typically aim to minimize the only primary heating energy, not adequately addressing major issues related to a wider “sustainability” concept, i.e. IEQ, health, resilience to future climate, human factor in energy use.
In the context of Building Digitalization needs, based on previous EU initiatives on Digital Building Logbook (DBL) and Building Renovation Passport (BRP), and in view of their future implementation in EU policies, RERoadS develops, validates and promotes the first School BRP including two main elements: 1) the DBL, a digital information collection tool on aspects such as energy, IEQ and sustainability, provided into a modular and layered structure; 2) a RENOVATION ROADMAP (RR) outlining a long-term step-by-step approach which foreseen tailored cost-effective and sustainable solutions, from Elementary Renovation Actions to Packages of them rendered into scenarios of intervention. In the School BRP, RERoadS holistically addresses the above-mentioned sustainability issues, proposing a rating system, based on the most recent EU framework Level(s).
In addition, RERoadS develops dedicated Education Paths for the environmental awareness raising of the school community: the preparation of the BRP or the implementation of renovation is an opportunity for sensitizing young generations on sustainability practices within schools.
RERoadS implementation is based on 3 main interrelated Work Packages, including activities such as: defining the new DBL and BRP structure and specific modules, populating the RR based on performance simulations on Reference Educational Buildings, monitoring school buildings’ IEQ, demonstrating and validating the School BRP on School Pilots. RERoadS approach is completed by 2 WPs providing an effective Communication and Dissemination strategy and a strong Management plan, also including the creation of a School Advisory Board (SAB), a study group providing qualified scientific decision-making support to the renovation processes.
Being the School BRP a useful tool for different stakeholders, RERoadS already obtained the support of several partners: School Communities and Owner Authorities (for IEQ monitoring, BRP validation and Education Path application); Professional Associations, Public Bodies and Members of the international Scientific Community interested to SAB.
