On December 13, 2012 a new Italian law made the Energy Audit compulsory for enterprises (law n.290, 13/12/12).

The Energy Audit is not a new concept, in fact its application started with the European Directive 2002/91/CE and its role in the EU energy saving approach is still highlighted nowadays.

Focusing on energy efficiency in buildings, many factors contributing to energy losses can be improved with the help of several new technologies: better insulation, new building materials, integrated energy systems & building automation are some of the aspects that can increase the energy efficiency and therefore improve the energy class of a building. The energy classification is a criteria that has become very relevant after the approval of this new law, in fact it is no more possible to automatically include old buildings in the lowest class (class G), but it is now compulsory to make an Energy Audit.

The positive aspect of this new law is that, thanks to the Audit, it will be possible to identify the weakness of each building and be aware of the most suitable technologies that can be adopted in order to improve their efficiency. This is the first step to improve the sustainability of the buildings. With such renovation it will be possible to save up to 20-30% of energy, with a consequent concrete feedback also from an economic point of view.