The historical headquarter of Italian Ministero degli Esteri (Ministry of External Affairs) in Rome named as "Palazzo della Farnesina" is a very large (about 700.000 m 3 of volume) and complex multi-functional building.The objective of present study, commissioned by Ministry of Environment, is to evaluate different energy saving strategies in this building achievable by the implementation of retrofit actions. At first, the seasonal energy consumption obtained by the existing cooling and heating systems has been estimated.

This paper outlines the Europrosper project whose objectives are to :1. Consolidate and where appropriate harmonise methodologies for energy certification of existing office buildings across 6 European countries whilst allowing customisation in each country to accomodate existing techniques and national contexts2. Develop training courses to instruct practitioners on how to use the certification methods, to include self-certification procedures3. Conduct a demonstration phase and4.

Winner of First Prize in the 2 nd Commonwealth Inter-school Design Competition organised by theCommonwealth Association of Architects (CAA), 1991. The winning design was a pair of houses with wind towers. It was praised by the jury as an innovative and original solution to the brief recognising local conditions, elegantly and thoughtfully presented. The planning of the dwelling pleasantly reflected the local lifestyle with an interesting internal environment.

The transformation of the Conservatorio San Giuseppe , into the Cospicua Residential Home for the Elderly has become a landmark in the neighbourhood. It brings past and present together with its old church and stepped new development incorporating a colourful orange windbreak. It is an example of how an old building, originally an orphanage for girls, with limitations of location and orientation could be rehabilitated to incorporate energy efficient features. Both the original structure and the new construction are load bearing with a high thermal mass to utilise a direct gain system.

More than three quarters of all consumed energy in buildings are used for heating, ventilation and sanitary hot water preparation. Energy conservation on these areas has a great potential for reduction of fossil fuels consumption and could greatly contribute to environmental assessment. In striving for reduction of energy use in buildings new criteria are enforced as a measure for energy use in buildings.

Reconstruction of late 19 th century building for new Slovene Ethnographic Museum is presented. Interventions into building envelope and heating, cooling and lighting system from exhibits and visitors comfort and rational use of energy point of view were treated in the framework of EU and SI research programmes. An innovative heating-cooling system have been designed and tested.

The Portuguese National Museum for Archaeology is undergoing an expansion and retrofitting. It is currently housed in one of the most important ancient monuments in Portugal: the Monastery of Jernimos. The authorities responsible for the museum, taking advantage of this retrofitting, decided to promote a modern and integrated design of the future archaeological museum. The architectural design aims to combine, aesthetically, the old and the new building, promoting sustainable architecture and energy efficiency (concerning, essentially, indoor climate, lighting and acoustical requirements).

A important part of educational buildings must be retrofitted in many European countries, in the next years, for historical and demographic reasons. These retrofittings must be carried out with a limitation of energy consumption and a better indoor comfort. In this context, Annex 36 of International Energy Agency aims at promoting energy efficient measurements of educational buildings in the retrofitting process. In the same time, in France, decision makers want to integrate high environmental quality comfort requirements.

Within an Italian Experimental Programme an interdisciplinary research for the retrofitting of some residential buildings in the surrounding of Florence has been carried out. The activity of the experimental research concerns the methodological and scientific support to the technical solutions for the restoration of two buildings.

Energy conservation represents a main concern for the environmental, economical and social problems. In this field, educational buildings are large consumer of energy and in many countries need retrofits. In this paper, we propose an energy certification procedure for educational buildings which aims to improve learning and teaching environment while reducing energy consumption. The developed procedure is composed of different levels including a phase of diagnosis and then a phase of calculation of the energy consumption and the energy conservation possibilities.