Learn to save: sustainable schools

The existing school buildings are mainly characterized by low level of architectural quality and performance which leads to a high consumption of energy and an indoor microclimate below comfort level. The design and construction quality of buildings plays a key role in limiting energy consumption, while ensuring proper comfort conditions. Best practice can also effectively encourage experimentations and contribute to formulate sustainable construction strategies that should be widely adopted. School buildings play, in fact, a dual role: on one hand they have to ensure adequate technical and morphological standards to all spaces used by the students; on the other one, they have to effectively communicate the criteria of sustainable design which have been used for their construction. The aim of attaining higher level of sustainability in the construction sector has lead to consider school buildings perfect case studies for testing sustainable technical solutions. This paper proposes some of the most innovative case studies within Italy, highlighting criteria and strategies adopted in the design for spaces dedicated to children. The aim is to promote sustainable design and construction strategies that combine high levels of energy efficiency, of performance standards and environmental indoor quality, including innovative strategies to integrate the building and its related systems.