Sarah Barbon

Master's Degree Thesis in Civil Engineering

Economic and sustainability assessments in the design of Social Housing:
the case study of the temporary residence in Piazza della Repubblica in Turin

Sarah Barbon

Polytechnic University of Turin - Master's Degree Thesis in Civil Engineering
Thesis by Sarah Barbon Email: s151559@studenti.polito.it

Speakers: Prof.Ing Carlo Caldera and Francesco Prizzon
Academic Year 2012 - 2013

Introduction

This thesis is about verifying the environmental and economic sustainability of a Social Housing project located in Turin in Piazza della Repubblica 14. This building renovation is one of the two temporary residences built thanks to the financial support of the Housing Program of the Compagnia di San Paolo, which took care of both the design tender and the management assignment.

First, a review of the main sustainability assessment methodologies and protocols is prepared, such as the Itaca protocol, Leed Italia and Casaclima, with attention also to the protocols that are specifically used in some European states. It was decided to apply the Itaca Protocol for the assessment of environmental sustainability. It is an instrument of interest for the case study in question given that the Piedmont Region has promoted the plan for the construction of 10.000 social housing units to be built using sustainable construction methods. Within this program, each building project financed by the home program obtains a sustainability certificate that proves compliance with the parameters established by the Itaca protocol. It allows buildings to be assigned a performance score in reference to the main environmental components and to classify the building according to a quality scale.

After the application of the protocol, it was decided to intervene on two criteria to increase the performance level compatible with the increase in cost items. From the point of view of the examination of economic sustainability, a synthetic framework of annual management is hypothesized, highlighting the income mainly constituted by rental fees and the expenses borne by the managing entity. This is not an ordinary manager but a social manager, therefore this type of approach is analyzed also in relation to the recipients of the intervention.

Ultimately, alternative management scenarios are hypothesized, in which the variables are represented precisely by the different types of users who have access to this type of temporary residence. From the union of the different environmental, economic and social components, a design approach can therefore be developed, defined as integrated design as a model for the development of Social Housing interventions.

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