Renovation of prefabricated buildings: historical analysis, digital model, energy retrofit. A case study in Calabria, Southern Italy

This paper presents some results of a current research project on the knowledge, monitoring and requalification of the light prefabricated built heritage of the second half of the twentieth century in the regions of Calabria and Lazio, funded by European Union Next Generation EU, developed by the University of Calabria and by the University of Roma Tor Vergata. In the case study presented in this paper, the research group of the University of Calabria applied the methodology used in the research project. The case concerns a public housing complex built in Cosenza (Calabria) in the 1970s. Starting from the analysis of historical documents, the HBIM model of one of the buildings was developed, and then the energy analysis was conducted. The HBIM model was developed connecting the three-dimensional visualisation of the building to archival sources, selected and organised in databases. Then, starting from the present building, with a reverse investigation process, studies, evaluations and measurements were conducted to increase the level of information on the various parts of the building, underlining that the industrialised built heritage, also if combined with parts built on site, matches contemporary digital tools. Historical analysis and HBIM support the requalification, with the definition of solutions for plant updating and energy saving, outlined in a way that is conscious of the building’s technical value.