Categorization of the historic architecture in Palermo for the purpose of energy assessment

The strategies to improve the energy performance of historic buildings can be compatible with their conservation if they are referred to material, construction, distribution features, strictly related to a local level. In the EU project EFFESUS, a method of categorization has been developed for historic districts and tested on the Swedish town of Visby. This approach aims at defining a manageable number of representative buildings, or archetypes, through which the energy performances of the district constructions, and their potential improvement, can be analysed. The present paper applies this categorization method to a representative part of the historic centre of Palermo, regulated by the urban plan “P.P.E. Centro storico”. The study aims at relating the existing building typologies, defined in this plan, to the characteristics influencing the energy performance of the historic architecture of the town. This analysis has resulted in twelve building categories, proposed to detail the district typologies. The categorization of the historic architecture of Palermo and its integration with the current typologies are meant to facilitate guidelines for the improvement of its energy performances: for each category, several refurbishment measures can be analysed regarding their compatibility to the conservation restrictions; at the same time, their effectiveness can be assessed on the basis of geometric, distribution and construction features of the buildings.