Energy performance of buildings: Improvements, limits and future perspectives during the last twenty years of energy and sustainability policies

Buildings are responsible for about 35-40% of energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions, and it implies that improvements of local and global climate, containment of urban heats islands, saving targets, and environmental goals cannot be achieved without high-efficient new buildings and a deep energy renovation of the existing building stock. This work analyses three possible case studies to fulfill the goals of policies in energy-matter and considers real case studies of new construction and the energy refurbishment of existing buildings. This is only a small part of a wider study that provides an overview of evolution, achieved goals, criticalities, and perspectives of twenty years of policies in the matter of energy performance of buildings. The new construction of a single-story dwelling, the refurbishment of a historical building, and a 70s cement-based building are the three exemplary case studies that will be proposed, as a part of a larger investigation.