Seismic and energy renovation. Comparison between the design approach in Italy and in Romania

All European cities are characterized by very large areas, often formed by buildings with low quality, from a series of point of view. The possibility of renovating them is strategic to improve both the quality of life and to the possibility of economic recovery for building companies. In the last decades, the attention of the scientific community has been addressed to the energy renovation, thanks to the strong activities of the European Community in this field. Recent time, unfortunately has shown as a large part of its territory is at risk of earthquake. So, the possibility to combine both issues may be strategic for many European countries. Italy and Romania, have linked by common social tradition, sprang from the Roman Empire. Nowadays, this link is stronger, thanks to the common interests in social, cultural and business fields. Therefore, the investigation of possible synergies between the design approach in both countries may be really interesting. This paper consists in the first step of the activity of a transnational research group, which has been recently formed by Catania University, Ion Mincu University and NIRD URBAN-INCERC of Bucharest.