Energy efficiency and Building Energy Modeling are two successful approaches to architecture, engineering, construction and operation (AECO) programs. In recent year several education initiatives focusing on buildings energy management have been carried out to provide professional profiles with specific skills in technology, architecture, engineering, economics, management and environmental science. It enables them to plan, design, evaluate or research energy supply and design strategies aimed to reduce energy consumption according to sustainability concepts. Building energy performance optimization requires an integrated design approach to explore and evaluate different strategies for building energy saving and to assist in the decision making process along the life cycle including design, operation, management and decommission phases. Moreover, BEM (Building Energy Modeling) is increasingly being included into architecture and engineering curricula, introducing new methodologies and tools for architecture design to provide interdisciplinary profiles in the professional practice. The main objective of this contribution is to report the application of BIM technologies and BEM tools into the Environmental Design Lab training course at the School of Architecture at University of Florence, where the authors are involved into a cross-disciplinary teaching program which students undertake in the fourth year of their curriculum within the 5 years degree program.

Cultural heritage is recognized as a driver of the sustainable development. The UNESCO’s 1972 World Heritage Convention has addressed key topics that link heritage practices to sustainability objectives. Historic buildings make up a considerable part of EU building stock, and their renovation and safeguarding require retrofit solutions that balance safety, energy efficiency, human comfort, heritage value preservation and environmental sustainability. This article tries to throw light on innovative techniques for heritage restoration based on sustainability, reuse, and recycle principles through non-invasive interventions. The work outlines the progress in the field of advanced materials obtained through the reuse of recycled materials, showing outcomes from MIRACLE research carried out by University of Florence on the development of an innovative fiber-reinforced bio-composite matrix to be applied for energy plus seismic retrofitting of existing masonry buildings built before 1945.