The aim of this paper, in line with the 2030 European Agenda and 2021 Italian “Recovery and Resilience Plan” objectives, is to define an evaluation methodology and tool to support public administrations to detect buildings, currently unused or underused, that might be apt for transformation interventions. The focus is on historical Italian healthcare buildings since these show widespread decay and neglect. A five-step methodology has been developed: screening of public assets; classification, evaluation, and identification of buildings, based on the “potential index”; GIS mapping and inventory; selection of buildings for in-depth analysis; BIM digitization and definition of the “transformability index”. In the fifth phase, an evaluation tool is integrated into the BIM software to automatically calculate the transformability index of each building using six indicators: usability, fragmentation, modifiability, roof implementation, external envelope, and window-to-wall ratio. The “transformability index” helps define the most appropriate buildings to intervene with for reuse. Building transformation is connected to construction features and layout organization and it is limited by architectural, structural, and artistic constraints.

Nowadays, energy retrofit interventions on the existing building stock are of paramount importance towards energy consumption and emissions reductions in the construction sector. Such interventions are also crucial in the view of increasing cities resilience with respect to the intensification of frequent extreme weather events, such as cold spells and heatwaves. Indeed, a wide portion of our cities is dated and lacking with respect to performances. These are the motivations behind the proposed sustainable approach, which deals with the environmental perspective, but also with social and economic ones, by proposing the retrofit of the Public Residential Building stock (Edilizia Residenziale Pubblica, ERP). The objective is to improve the energy performance of ERP stock by means of construction materials coming from local km0 agricultural waste and by-products. The research was conducted by means of in field and numerical analyses of the energy performances of a relevant case study building. Different layers of bio-based, recycled construction materials for the envelope were tested with respect to their efficacy in improving the energy performance of a case study building. The results demonstrate that the most performing envelope solutions and their combination are able to reduce up to 36% of the yearly energy consumption for heating.

Public residential buildings make a large portion of the European existing stock and they quite often require deep renovation interventions. A methodology for setting priorities and targeting regeneration investments should be defined relying on the increasing use of building information modelling (BIM) tools even for managing existing buildings. The aim of this paper is to integrate the evaluation process into BIM Revit software developing a specific plug-in, a Decision support system (DSS) that will help to identify the most appropriate flats to be transformed. It is based on measuring three indicators: Usability, Fragmentation, and Constructive Modifiability. Through their weighted average it is possible to obtain a final transformability score. The proposed approach has been tested on a case study chosen within the 1st P.E.E.P. (1st public plan for council and affordable housing) that has been approved in Rome in 1964. The results demonstrate that the transformability of apartments is related mainly to the Constructive Modifiability indicator and buildings with reinforced concrete frames show higher scores. A widespread application of such a methodology on large real estate portfolio may lead stakeholders involved in housing management investments in clear choices related to maintenance of buildings.

Nature-Based Solutions offer a concrete opportunity to integrate nature into cities and strengthen their resilience, in response to global challenges related to climate change, biodiversity loss, and water management, which are exacerbated by urban expansion and its impacts on the built environment. This study aims to analyze various European policies and urban greening practices, considering not only some European Union member states but also other cities geographically located in Europe. The main goal is to explore how these solutions are used in various European cities to address environmental challenges and improve urban quality of life. The study highlights the growing role of greening strategies in EU urban policies as key tools to tackle global challenges. It finds that green interventions—such as green roofs, façades, and green urban spaces—offer multifunctional benefits, but their effectiveness relies on integrated planning, strong public–private cooperation, and active community involvement. Key challenges include the limited scalability of these solutions in dense or economically constrained areas and the need for long-term financial and institutional support. Overall, the study highlights that greening is not merely aesthetic but central to building regenerative and climate-resilient cities.