Integrating Environmental and Economic Sustainability in New Building Construction and Retrofits

The aim of this paper is to grow the literature on methodological approaches directed to find out the most preferable retrofit design solutions for Energy-Efficient Buildings, sustainable from both an environmental and economic point of view. The paper proposes a methodology based on the integration of two existing approaches and finalized to support designers, constructors, developers, and public authorities in the decision-making process. The first approach is based on a joint application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC). The outputs are proposed as an input to the second approach, the Strategic Choice Approach (SCA), considered as a preliminary “platform” in which information deriving from three specific disciplines (“Materials Science and Technology”, “Environmental Technology” and “Real Estate Market Evaluation”) could be structured, shared and accessed by stakeholders, in order to facilitate the decision-making process. First findings are illustrated through an application of the proposed methodology on a case study in the city of Turin (Northern Italy). The selected case study constitutes a reference building for the Turin area because it represents the building construction techniques that mostly need to be refurbished in order to reduce energy consumptions at building level and, as a consequence, at urban level.