On Wednesday 10th April, at the Auditorium of Palazzo dell'Aeronautica, the Infrastructure Service of the AM Logistic Command organised a technical seminar dedicated to the implementation of measurement and certification systems for energy and environmental sustainability in the construction and refurbishment of infrastructure used by the Armed Force.
The event forms part of the activities aimed at defining the design criteria relating to the sustainability of the infrastructure that will be built as part of the ambitious infrastructure programme, approved by the Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force, named “Blue Airports” with which the Italian Air Force is preparing to renew its entire infrastructure fleet used for its institutional purposes.
In his opening speech, the Head of the Infrastructure Service, Brig. Gen. Mario Sciandra, he underlined the importance for the Italian Air Force to equip itself with management and governance tools for the design, execution and testing processes of infrastructural works, included in the aforementioned “Aeroporti Azzurri” Programme which currently envisages a ten-year development, starting from the current year with the design phase for the modernisation of the airport utility distribution networks (so-called. spines).
Technical officers from the infrastructure component of the Italian Air Force Engineering Corps and other Armed Forces, the Directorate General for Works, and the Real Estate, Energy and Environment Valorisation Task Force attended the event.
The seminar, chaired by Brig. Gen. Stefano Cimichella, Head of the Programmes Department of the Infrastructure Service, was divided into four modules, and was carried out in collaboration with the Prof. Ing. Marco Mari and Prof. Arch. Francesco Bedeschi of the University of Arkansas and Engineers Patrik Lazzari, Ryan Williams and Guglielmo Giusti of SINERGI Integrated Building Sciences, a company with significant international experience in the sector, particularly regarding the implementation of certification processes for the LEED protocol (“Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design”).
The seminar addressed the topic of environmental sustainability starting from the definition of the impacts of the built environment, to arrive at defining a strategy based on the use of tools and processes useful for measuring the energy and environmental performance of infrastructures. In particular, the most relevant international sustainability certification protocols promoted by the USGBC, such as LEED, WELL and SITES, which represent the frontier of innovation in the field of sustainable construction and living well-being, were explored in depth, as well as the process of “commissioning” of buildings, namely the systematic verification procedure for all phases of construction of the work, starting from design, to guarantee compliance with the requirements and criteria underlying the design.
Particular interest was aroused by case study of the F-35 Aircraft Maintenance Hangar built at the Amendola Air Base, a concrete example of the implementation of advanced design techniques and sustainability criteria, which have made it possible to optimise energy resources and reduce environmental impact, achieving the first LEED “Gold” level certification for an Italian Air Force facility.
The seminar concluded with a lively debate among those present on the various topics covered and, in particular, on the considerable potential of systems for measuring the energy and environmental performance of infrastructure, specifically within the framework of the “Green Airports” Programme, with the aim of reducing the environmental footprint of the Armed Force, in line with the objectives of decarbonising the infrastructure stock in use.
