• The construction sector has, in recent years, been at the centre of policies relating to sustainable development.
• 85 per cent of European buildings are more than 20 years old. In Italy, half are more than 50 years old.
• There are several examples of synergy in the sector: one is promoted by Milan Fair and is called Miba.

Today, 15 per cent of European buildings fall into the lowest energy class. With the green homes directive, Europe is focusing on energy retrofitting and improving the efficiency of the built environment: by 2028, those in class G will have to move up to a higher class (for public buildings this target must be reached a year earlier).

More broadly, 85 per cent of European buildings are more than 20 years old and just 0.2 per cent of these undergo deep renovations that reduce their energy consumption. In Italy, the situation is even more emblematic: of a housing stock of around 13.5 million dwellings, half are more than 50 years old, according to data from Energy&Strategy at the Politecnico di Milano.

Miba, an alliance between construction trade fairs is born

The construction sector is in constant growth: immediately after the first lockdown, Italy introduced the incentive known as the Superbonus 110 per cent, which drove the construction sector but has so far involved only a tiny fraction of Italy's housing stock. Moreover, the sector still needs to make not only the buildings themselves more efficient, but also the materials, technologies and systems. In short, the entire industry must progress towards reducing its impact on the environment.

In this regard, an alliance between trade fairs has been formed: it is called Miba (which stands for Milan international building alliance) and comprises four major trade fair events held every two years in Milan: Global elevator exhibition (Gee), Me-Made Expo, Smart building expo and Sicurezza. The four fairs will be held this year from 15 to 17 November (with the exception of Me-Made Expo, which will continue until 18 November) and each event is a point of reference for its respective sector. Behind the organisation of these events is a single entity, Fiera Milano, and in brief they will cover:

• Gee, Global elevator exhibition, is the event entirely dedicated to mobility within buildings, namely lifts, escalators, moving walkways and their components;
• Me-Made Expo is one of the leading events in Italy for the construction world and is structured around two salons, construction and building envelopes, both oriented towards the topics of innovation and sustainability;
• Smart building expo will be the event dedicated to home and building automation and technological integration. Organised by Fiera Milano and Pentastudio, it is a fair designed to discuss smart cities, as a market is increasingly developing in which buildings are ever more automated, connected and multitasking;
• Sicurezza, finally, is the leading event in Italy and among the foremost in Europe dedicated to security and fire. It offers a comprehensive overview of video surveillance, access control, anti-intrusion, fire detection and suppression, as well as the new cyber frontiers of security.

Miba will cover all of this, thanks to the synergy between the four events dedicated to the construction sector which, taken together, will offer a 360-degree vision of the development of the built environment, from the building envelope to design, through to the intelligent management of buildings, the protection of assets and people and home automation, right through to the latest technological and design solutions in the world of mobility.

Innovation and sustainability, the two drivers for decarbonising the sector

An analysis of data provided by the regions and autonomous provinces to the Sistema informativo sugli attestati di prestazione energetica (Siape), created and managed by Enea, reveals that nearly 80 per cent of non-residential buildings and 90 per cent of residential buildings in Italy fall into energy class D or below. This figure is understandable when one considers that more than half of the national building stock consists of buildings constructed before 1970.

This is why the construction sector needs to innovate, as well as renovate. Paolo Pizzocaro, director of tech exhibitions at Fiera Milano, is convinced of this: "Innovating, working on new low-impact materials and new technologies, means not only keeping up with new regulations and meeting European targets, but also, in concrete terms, reducing the impact on the planet and fostering greater living comfort for everyone. Therefore greater inclusivity in buildings, which is simply another face of sustainability," concludes Pizzocaro.

"Working together, integrating and sharing are objectives that, finally, are also part of our sector as competitive levers," adds Regina De Albertis, president of Assimpredil Ance. "The turbulence of the market has proved us right and it is of value to everyone to rethink contractual relationships between clients, designers, contractors, manufacturers and sellers." De Albertis does not believe that a directive such as the one under discussion in the European Parliament can solve the Italian problem. "Achieving the objective set by the draft directive presupposes an epochal effort in terms of investments and production chains involved: around 1.8 million residential buildings in 7 years, around 182,000 interventions per year, to which all other buildings would need to be added. Enea estimates speak of almost 60 billion euros a year in investments for five years!"

Ergo, adequate financial support is needed. There are very many funds Italy can draw on, as Irish MEP Ciarán Cuffe, rapporteur of the directive, has made known: the European Investment Bank, the European Central Bank, Recovery Fund resources, structural funds. The money is there, then. But beyond environmental governance, "it is also necessary to activate other levers such as those of legality, safety and regular employment, conscious choices in the supply chain and social commitment," concludes Regina De Albertis, who through Ance has promoted a voluntary code of conduct. It is called "Cantiere impatto sostenibile" and is structured around 8 measurable commitments with increasing levels of responsibility. Among these commitments are also those relating to sustainability and decarbonisation. A way also to enhance what businesses already do in terms of sustainable development and to attract ever greater commitment on this subject.