Guidelines for eco-efficiency in the UNESCO site of Cinque Terre: an example of best practice

The World Heritage site of “Cinque Terre, Portovenere and the Islands” is probably one of the best-known examples of protected landscapes. Due to its horography and the absence of roads, the site remained relatively inaccessible until the opening of the railway in the 19th century; a conservation policy, which began before the Second World War, has managed to save it from drastic transformations in the 20th century. Nevertheless, even this landscape is not free from risk as shown by the recent floods which has hit two villages and caused landslides in the adjoining terraced landscape, made vulnerable by abandon and neglect in the upper hillsides. Furthermore, the substantial reduction of agricultural activity has been accompanied by the exploitation of its enviable position as a world-known tourist attraction. To fulfil renewed requests for amenities and functionality, minor but widespread modifications to traditional buildings have influenced the change in the coastal landscape along the last ten years, with the risk of irreparably encroaching on that edified heritage which is an intrinsic component of the whole terraced landscape. The proposed paper deals with the results of a recent research commissioned by the Regional Directorate of Liguria for Cultural and Landscape Heritage to the Universities of Genoa and Pavia. The research focuses on the formulation of criteria to set up Guidelines for eco-efficiency in traditional rural buildings and for the installation of renewable energy source applications (mainly intended for domestic or agricultural use) and faces a real new challenge for such a kind of site. Two factors have guided the development of the research. On the one hand, a continuous passage of scale, from the territorial one to constructive detail. On the other hand, the constant dialogue between specialists within a trans-disciplinary team has been fundamental. The results of theoretical models of calculation of behaviour and of energy requirements (applied by experts in Building Physics) have been confronted with the evaluation of actual state of conservation of the buildings, comparing it with the conditions of weather and sun exposure, with the relative climatology data and superficial and profound geology, and with the reasons for preservation and protection to discern the possible adoptable solutions. Hence, the Guidelines considerations converge on: - environmental resources; - interpretation of the landscape as a system, of revealing visual relations, of views and of panoramic places; - energy need of buildings, outcome of the analysis on thermal characteristics of the sample buildings; - framework of the interventions of environmental and building refurbishment and panorama of the compatible technical solutions (isolation and installation systems for production of hot water also produced by solar energy, for heating/cooling by geothermal, hydrothermal, biomass, heated pumps, for the production of electricity and for the recycling of rain water); - criteria of compatibility and impact of various technologies: the visual impact, most of all for solar and wind powered devices (due to the chromatic feature of the solar cells, their shape, the reflection from the surface), the impact on the eco-system and on the territory (considering the consumption of environmental resources and the modifications caused by new interventions).