Some reflections on the seismic upgrading and regeneration of existing buildings in the Italian regulatory framework

In recent years, rehabilitation of the built heritage has increased, while construction of new buildings has decreased. A powerful impulse toward the combined structural upgrading and energy demand reduction has been given to the construction sector by means public investments associated with a fiscal incentives. Design exercises and real execution of interventions highlighted the role of the building envelope not only in the case of energy demand reduction, but also in the case of increase of structural and seismic performance of the buildings. This paper moves from an interdisciplinary research on the role and opportunities offered by multifunctional exoskeletons in the regeneration of buildings in urban areas. Herein the attention is focused on the relation between structural solutions for seismic upgrading, the technical standards related to the structural design and the regulatory framework concerning existing buildings and their relations with the urban environment. Some reflections on clashes generated by innovative and effective structural solutions for performance upgrading of existing buildings are also reported with the aim of defining some needs of integration and coordination of some crucial aspects of current regulatory provisions in the field of architecture and building engineering.