Urban scale ITACA protocol

The need to upgrade buildings and avoid land consumption, especially in urban peripheries, the importance of verifying environmental impact in relation to the effects of climate change and the awareness that re-designing cities can positively reinforce some of the factors that facilitate integration (community comfort and safety, for example) are among the issues that make it necessary to thoroughly re-examine government policy regarding urban planning and regulation. “Sustainable Construction”, an inter-regional working group that is part of ITACA, has responded to these issues by preparing a specific evaluation protocol for use in urban areas. The objective of this protocol, which will act in synergy with other protocols relating to building sustainability and facilitate appropriate responses to urban regeneration, is to provide a cross-scale assessment that will measure the sustainability level of interventions in urban environments ranging in size from the block to the city. This protocol will be useful for public planning bodies and all those stakeholders in developing or transforming urban areas.