Compatible and sustainable procedures for the “Energy qualification” of historic buildings. The case study of Marignane’s historic centre

Several local administrations are improving strategic missions aimed at revitalizing historical centres. European economical helps support these actions and UE looks at the heritage as an opportunity; it has a relevant cultural value and contains the identity factors and the quality of the continent. Politics dressed to Urban Regeneration are oriented to connect the physical part of the cities to the social one and from this point of view Regeneration means to design a new city form. Nevertheless, a risk does exist that solutions and techniques conceived for the energy efficiency of new constructions might be indiscriminately transferred to the rehabilitation and conservation of old ones. An appropriate consideration of the issue of sustainability within the broader field concerning the conservation of the architectural heritage involves a theoretical reflection, as the basis on which to ground the specific contributions of the applied scientific research. It is essential to define strategies, guidelines and operational protocols, encompassing the conservation requirements and, at the same time, providing innovative and sustainable solutions. According with this purpose, this paper deals with the issue of the relationship between conservation and sustainability, starting from the case-study of the historic centre of Marignane. The possibility to conduct an analysis on the whole historic centre helped us to establish quick procedures for the measurement of the energy requirements, altogether with the assessment of the energy improvement sustainability and compatibility in the case of historic buildings.