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Building Impact Reduction Index (RIE) – Bologna
Since 2009, the Municipality of Bologna has also been applying the RIE
index in its Building Regulations. The index applies to both existing buildings
and newly constructed ones, excluding those with a ratio between building lot
and land area higher than 0.5. The algorithm used is fundamentally identical
to that of Bolzano (the administration provides a spreadsheet for calculating
the index).
Although it implements a coefficient which takes into consideration the pith
of non-green areas, the spreadsheet provided for the calculation is designed in
such a way as to attribute a single conventional value to the pith of all surfaces.
The peculiarity of the approach of Bologna is the presence of improvement
performance levels aiming to promote building actions such as to enable an
improvement of sustainability of the buildings: in addition to basic performances, identical to those defined by the RIE of Bolzano (minimum values of
the index ranging between 1.5 and 4.0), “improvement” performance level
(index minimum value between 2 and 5) and “excellence” ones (index minimum
value between 2.5 and 6) are also envisaged, associated with certain incentives.
Other Italian Experiences
Several towns in Italy have implemented various tools aiming to enhance the
environmental value of buildings. In particular, the experiences of Brescia,
Florence and Rimini are explained below.
What is different in the approaches of these administrations is the application of incentives which may result in lower taxes (economic incentives) or in
the adjustment of town-planning parameters by means of correction coefficients (procedural incentives).
The Municipality of Brescia, in the building regulations of 2008 (guidelines, chapter called “Nature”) dealt with the use of green walls, introducing
minimum quantitative parameters depending on the possibility of receiving a
series of benefits (both procedural and economic).
The Municipality of Florence, in the 2007 building regulations, included
a series of indications on the use of green areas, promoting the implementation of measures aiming to “decrease the heat island effect” (by controlling
the pith of the ground, the use of urban green areas, designing proper positions for summer shades and the planting of trees and bushes).
The incentives envisaged are both economic and town-planning in nature,
they apply to actions on new structures, newly-built edifices, urban restructuring actions and building restructuring (percent reduction of concession
expenses and application of adjustments which take into consideration the
increased extent on the S.U.L.).
(continued)
6 UHI in the Metropolitan Cluster of Bologna-Modena...
Building Impact Reduction Index (RIE) – Bologna
Since 2009, the Municipality of Bologna has also been applying the RIE
index in its Building Regulations. The index applies to both existing buildings
and newly constructed ones, excluding those with a ratio between building lot
and land area higher than 0.5. The algorithm used is fundamentally identical
to that of Bolzano (the administration provides a spreadsheet for calculating
the index).
Although it implements a coefficient which takes into consideration the pith
of non-green areas, the spreadsheet provided for the calculation is designed in
such a way as to attribute a single conventional value to the pith of all surfaces.
The peculiarity of the approach of Bologna is the presence of improvement
performance levels aiming to promote building actions such as to enable an
improvement of sustainability of the buildings: in addition to basic performances, identical to those defined by the RIE of Bolzano (minimum values of
the index ranging between 1.5 and 4.0), “improvement” performance level
(index minimum value between 2 and 5) and “excellence” ones (index minimum
value between 2.5 and 6) are also envisaged, associated with certain incentives.
Other Italian Experiences
Several towns in Italy have implemented various tools aiming to enhance the
environmental value of buildings. In particular, the experiences of Brescia,
Florence and Rimini are explained below.
What is different in the approaches of these administrations is the application of incentives which may result in lower taxes (economic incentives) or in
the adjustment of town-planning parameters by means of correction coefficients (procedural incentives).
The Municipality of Brescia, in the building regulations of 2008 (guidelines, chapter called “Nature”) dealt with the use of green walls, introducing
minimum quantitative parameters depending on the possibility of receiving a
series of benefits (both procedural and economic).
The Municipality of Florence, in the 2007 building regulations, included
a series of indications on the use of green areas, promoting the implementation of measures aiming to “decrease the heat island effect” (by controlling
the pith of the ground, the use of urban green areas, designing proper positions for summer shades and the planting of trees and bushes).
The incentives envisaged are both economic and town-planning in nature,
they apply to actions on new structures, newly-built edifices, urban restructuring actions and building restructuring (percent reduction of concession
expenses and application of adjustments which take into consideration the
increased extent on the S.U.L.).
(continued)
6 UHI in the Metropolitan Cluster of Bologna-Modena...