Seismic and energy renovation prioritization: A multi-criteria decision-making framework for sustainable Italian schools

The building stock in Europe is becoming increasingly obsolete, manifesting poor energy efficiency and high seismic vulnerability. This might be due to the absence of building codes at their age of construction and to the degradation of building materials. Among this stock, 4% of the buildings are intended for educational activities, hosting hundreds of people daily and thus being relevant buildings. Upgrading and making these buildings sustainable not only means to improve their energy performance but also the structural safety. Modern combined solutions allow for simultaneous improvements, and various models exist for integrated assessments. However, these models typically demand extensive building data and involve considerable computational work. A novel framework, prioritizing school renovations in terms of seismic and energy potential, was developed and applied to Italian schools. This framework categorized regions from "low" to "high" priority based on a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) process, considering factors like school size and regional building inventory. Additionally, it factored in socioeconomic vulnerability, integrating non-technical elements into the prioritization of regional wellbeing.

PIREDDA Giacomo;  POHORYLES Daniel;  BOURNAS Dionysios;  DA PORTO Francesca; 

2025-07-10

ELSEVIER

JRC141892

2352-7102 (online),   

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352710225013269,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC141892,   

10.1016/j.jobe.2025.113089 (online),