Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Considering that in Italy the energy needs for building are one third of the total
consumed energy, it is clear that measures such as the revision of the municipal
building regulations, supported at regional level, is a valuable tool for supporting
the energy policies of the Italian regions by 2020.
The building code, if suitably revised through energy efficiency and sustain-
ability criteria, can support actions on the building and its technical systems, which
in turn produce a reduction of gross final consumptions and an increase of
renewable energy systems.
The art. 4 of the Burden Sharing Decree states what tools the regions can use to
reach the reduction of the energy consumptions.
In general terms, the regions can:
• develop action plans to improve energy efficiency and the implementation of
renewable sources at district and territorial levels;
• integrate the programming about renewable sources plants implementation and
energy efficiency measures implementation with other sectorial actions.
More specifically, the activities that can favour the attainment of the posed
objectives are reported below:
• measures and actions for local public transportations, in buildings and at con-
sumers sites in the regions and at local level;
• measures and actions to reduce urban traffic;
• measures and actions to reduce the electrical energy consumptions for public
lighting and in the water sector;
• widespread of financing tools through third parties of the energy services;
• incentive policies for energy efficiency, in agreement with the national laws.
As specified in art. 3 of the Burden Sharing Decree, the regions, in order to
ensure the achievement of these objectives are strongly invited to integrate their
own tools for the government of the territory and to support innovation in the
productive sectors, with specific new provisions for energy efficiency and use of
renewable energy sources.
There are many funding programs and projects that the European Union pro-
vides both to public and private bodies, which want to implement projects aiming
at environmental protection in various sectors. From territorial governance, in
reference to strategic and innovative approaches pointing at environmental sus-
tainability, to communication and information projects for raising public aware-
ness in relation to the problem of climate change and resources use, as well as
projects closely related to protection of nature and biodiversity.
In this context, the LIFE+ and the Covenant of Mayors Projects for many
regions of Italy, including Sicily, are largely influencing the future regional energy
planning strategy towards the achievement of the 2020 targets.
The Covenant of Mayors is a European framework to actively involve cities in
the strategy towards energy and environmental sustainability. The initiative,
launched in 2008 as part of the second edition of the EU Sustainable Energy Week,
led to the adherence of more than 1,600 cities, including 20 European capitals and
many towns in non-EU countries, with a mobilization of more than 140 million
citizens. The Covenant, at present, is one of the main tools for the development on
