Energy Analysis in an Italian Opera House: Highlighting the Difficulties in Refurbishing Historic Buildings Using Energy-Savings Strategies

The refurbishment of historic buildings is a complex task in which the goal of obtaining a more energy-efficient building can conflict with the peculiar characteristics of the building's environment and its intended use. In this article, the authors address this problem for a very specific type of building: a historic opera house located in northern Italy. The results of energy consumption monitoring and spot measurements on selected loads were used as a basis to propose energy-savings strategies.