Eco efficient recovery of historical buildings and eco innovation of building elements

Generally, the historical buildings have a high environmental profile thanks to a deep relationship with the site, the traditional construction culture, knowledge and use of local materials. Historically, the adaptation to new needs was also obtained through the dismantling and re-use of existing building materials, the so-called phenomenon of spoliation: the landfills were almost inexistent. On the contrary today, the availability of innovative materials and technologies, with unknown environmental profile, allows new performances of existing buildings but causes uncontrolled environmental impacts, due to the waste flow generated by design choices. The refurbishment design of the existing buildings should be carried out starting from the accurate knowledge of the residual performances, using existing materials and preferring the high-profile environmental materials. This article proposes a methodology eco-oriented to the recovery of the existing buildings, also the historical ones, improving the performance of the construction elements based on the principle of eco-innovation.