Two-storey buildings with a single dwelling are the most common type of property across all of Italy’s climate zones. However, the housing stock differs significantly according to the area. This is the conclusion of a study by ENEA, published in the scientific journal Energy and Buildings. It introduces the concept of Reference Buildings: representative models of Italy’s housing stock that can be used for energy simulations and to plan energy-efficiency measures.
An analysis of 12 million residential buildings
The research examined around 12 million residential buildings, equal to 85% of Italy’s total housing stock, along with more than 31 million homes. It aimed to identify the most common building configurations across Italy’s six climate zones, labelled A to F, by linking building geometry, construction period, heating systems and the thermal performance of the building envelope.
The new methodology is notable because it does not simply provide individual data points, but connects them in a structured way. This integration creates a consistent picture of the most widespread building types and allows them to be used as reference points for energy analysis at different territorial levels.
In particular, the Reference Buildings can be used for energy simulations, to assess the impact of changes to key building parameters and to analyse renovation scenarios at different local and regional scales.
Different buildings in northern and southern Italy: why climate zones matter
The analysis shows that two-storey buildings containing a single dwelling are the most common configuration in every Italian climate zone. The characteristics of the housing stock, however, differ noticeably between areas.
- In the warmer climate zones, A to C, the second most common type is a single-storey building with one home.
- In the colder zones, D to F, multi-storey buildings with a greater number of homes are more common. One possible explanation is the higher population density found in some colder areas.
These geographical differences matter when defining building energy-efficiency policies.
According to ENEA, the different characteristics of the housing stock make it difficult to apply a single national energy strategy. Instead, measures tailored to the particular features of each area are needed.
The age of Italy’s housing stock is another challenge. Around 65% of Italian properties were built before the first energy regulations came into force, meaning energy consumption levels may be high.
Heating: heat pumps play a growing role
The study also looks at the changing heating systems used in Italian homes. The data points to a gradual shift away from traditional and condensing boilers towards technologies considered more efficient, including heat pumps.
- Buildings constructed before 1980 are mainly associated with traditional heating systems.
- More recent homes, particularly those built after 2005, show a greater use of more efficient technologies.
Heat pumps are particularly common in climate zones A and B, where the weather conditions support wider use of the technology. District heating is also becoming more common in newer buildings, particularly in climate zone F.
Supporting European energy policy
ENEA’s research sits within the broader shift in European policies on energy, climate and building efficiency. As the residential and services sector accounts for a significant share of energy use and energy-related emissions, the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, EPBD 2024/1275, places increasing importance on reliable and comparable data about national building stocks.
At European level, the EU Building Stock Observatory aims to collect and make available information on buildings and their energy performance. The effectiveness of these tools, however, depends on the quality, completeness and consistency of the data supplied by individual countries.
Italy’s challenge: plenty of data, but fragmented
Italy has a substantial body of information about its housing stock, but it is spread across numerous sources: censuses, administrative archives, energy registers, technical studies and projects. These databases were often developed for different purposes and do not always use the same criteria, level of geographical detail or classification methods.
Through its new methodology, ENEA aims to address this fragmentation by connecting the various datasets and drawing representative building configurations from them.
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