A four-pillar framework with a dedicated set of indicators to evaluate, compare and monitor the energy renovation of cultural heritage buildings over time.
Renovating a cultural heritage building sustainably is never a matter of isolated technical fixes. It calls for a systematic and integrated methodology: one that balances energy performance, resource efficiency, climate resilience and social value, while respecting the historical significance of the site. Yet the tools to judge whether an intervention actually delivers on all these fronts have remained fragmented, leaving practitioners without a comprehensive, multidimensional way to measure results.
To address this gap, INHERIT has developed an Assessment and monitoring framework, now presented in a new info pack. The framework evaluates the transformation of cultural heritage buildings and monitors their performance across four interconnected pillars: energy performance and indoor environmental quality; resource efficiency, circularity and life cycle cost; resilience to climate and human-made hazards; and accessibility, inclusiveness, openness and socioeconomic sustainability.
A set of key performance indicators forms the backbone of the framework, spanning measures from heating and cooling energy intensity and thermal comfort to material circularity, life cycle cost, hazard identification and public perception. The framework has been further developed through normalisation criteria and multi-level weighting schemes, which allow assessments to be tailored to the characteristics, challenges and priorities of each individual heritage site, keeping the approach flexible and transparent while remaining comparable across diverse contexts.
By linking data collection, performance evaluation and strategic planning, the framework offers a structured and replicable reference that supports more informed and transparent decision-making, stronger alignment between interventions and sustainability goals, and the long-term resilience and viability of heritage buildings. In doing so, it helps bridge the gap between technical solutions and real-world implementation.
Read and download the info pack here
The full study, Second INHERIT Assessment & Monitoring Framework, is available here.
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Cover photo by Angel Maldonado on Unsplash