In recent decades, the issue of existing buildings’ energy retrofit has played a central role in the context of international and national territorial development policies, mainly due to the obsolescence state that characterizes the housing stock. Since the current need for energy renovation collides with the widespread low spending capacity of the owners, in recent years numerous fiscal incentives have been envisaged, aimed at promoting building initiatives for the improvement of energy performance indices. With reference to the Italian fiscal measure so-called Superbonus, introduced by the “Relaunch” Law Decree No. 34/2020, in the present research, a model for evaluating the economic benefits, in terms of the convenience of the operators involved, generated by energy requalification interventions, has been proposed. The analysis has been developed with regards to the Italian territory and to the prevailing building typology, by considering 110 provincial capitals and the main urban areas into which each city is divided (central, semi-central, and peripheral). Specifically, for each urban area of the Italian capitals considered, the market value differential between the after energy and before energy intervention situations has been firstly determined. Furthermore, assuming an ordinary profit margin of a generic investor interested in this type of investment, the break-even incentive, i.e., the percentage threshold able to ensure the condition of minimum convenience for an investor, has been estimated for each urban area.

Urban development is increasingly scrutinized for its sustainability from an economic, social, and environmental viewpoint. This study emphasizes how important indicators are in capturing the complexity of urban settings when assessing urban landscapes and making sure that comprehensive development plans incorporate all these aspects. The work aim is to forward the investigation of the ontology of indicators related to urban sustainability, specifically, a framework for spatial and temporal analysis and an attempt to align terminology with the sustainability indicators of the ISO spectrum. The methodology encompasses three main phases: a systematic review of sustainability indicators from the scientific literature across various territorial scales; the mapping of individual indicators to their appropriate spatial–temporal measurement ranges; and the alignment of these spatially and temporally specific indicators with ISO standards. Focusing on the Italian context, this study establishes an ontological spatial–temporal framework. It analyzes ISO indicators that can be managed in Italian spatial settings. The main objective of this part of the research is to select through a critical analysis the most frequent indicators in order to be able to make an alignment and define those that aim more at the goals of the 2030 Agenda on sustainability. This innovative approach enhances urban issue awareness and supports informed decision-making by demonstrating how sustainability indicators can be effectively utilized in downscaling strategies to create a policy for the practical use of indicators.

This study examines the economic and financial implications of the upcycling process and Design for Disassembly (DfD) applied to an “authorial” building. The objective is to examine the economic benefits deriving from the reuse of construction materials by quantifying the savings obtained through the reduction of disposal costs and CO₂ emissions in comparison with a traditional linear economic model. The methodological approach has been developed with the aid of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in order to provide an accurate estimation of both costs and environmental impacts related to the disassembly and reuse of materials. The financial analysis is based on local market prices to assess the savings associated with the reuse of building components compared to their disposal in landfills. The case study demonstrates the feasibility of this approach under real conditions, underscoring the transformative potential of upcycling in the construction industry, highlighting how this strategy can simultaneously improve economic efficiency and reduce environmental impact. The research offers a significant contribution to the debate on sustainable building practices and may serve as a starting point for future investigations.