Buildings that are sustainable

Often the word sustainability of a building concerns also its embodied energy, the consumption of natural resources, the use of land and so on, with issues that cover its entire life cycle. On the other hand, it`s easier to calculate the energy consumption than the other parameters of the building sustainability, and assessment methods (Leed, Spear etc.) are often considered too laborious to be adopted by small developers. Additionally it is possible to recognize some lacks in every rating system if they are compared with the most common definition of sustainability. The paper shows the intermediate step of a Research that aims to produce guideline for the building activity in the Rovigo area in Italy. The authors are working, together with the Rovigo public administration, to produce a actions to be taken by developers, architects and builders. The distinctive point of this work is the improvement of the voluntary adoptions of such actions, which differ from the compulsoriness of imposed regulations.