Prefabricated Construction Systems for Social Housing in the Florentine Area

The urgent need for energy and environmental redevelopment of Europe’s existing residential building stock is highlighted by the European Directive 2024/1275, aiming for a carbon-free economy by 2050. In Italy, public social housing built between the 1960s and 1980s presents structural, architectural, and energy inefficiencies due to aging construction, poor thermal performance, technological examines prefabricated and industrialized public housing in the provinces of Florence and Prato using Geographic Information System (GIS) tools to create a geo-referenced database with information derived from original design documents retrieved from the Casa S. p. A. archives. Through a statistical analysis of 72 prefabricated housing complexes, the study identifies the most prevalent construction systems and their defining features. The most significative construction solutions are detailed to analyse the technological aspects of each system. Two representative case studies are hence analysed in detail to assess their global energy performance and determine their energy classification. The evaluation highlights critical inefficiencies, including thermal bridging, inadequate insulation, and high heating demand, which contribute to poor energy efficiency ratings. The results provide a basis for developing targeted retrofitting strategies to improve thermal comfort, reduce energy consumption, and extend the lifespan of these buildings. The study contributes to the ongoing efforts toward sustainable redevelopment by offering a structured methodology for assessing and enhancing the energy performance of prefabricated public housing complexes.