From Global Strategies to mandatory standards in construction. A time-line for sustainable habitats

The paper is a critical essay, aimed at understanding how Italian and European initiatives and strategies have influenced the development of building certification both voluntary and mandatory, as well as ex-ante and ex-post tools for guiding technical-design solutions inspired by environmental sustainability. Starting from the main programmatic documents drawn up by international organizations, as well as from national and international technical and scientific literature, the main voluntary building certification systems are analyzed, by verifying their compliance with the mandatory regulations, and in particular with the Environmental Criteria Minimum (CAM). The article focuses on the theoretical background of the existing sustainability assessment tools, specifically referring to their application to the national context, and by discussing in the form of a conclusion the prospects for comparing the CAM and voluntary building certifications. The paper presents some of the results of the research PROSIT - PROgettare in SostenibilITà: qualificazione e digitalizzazione, made at the Department of Architecture of the University of Naples Federico II.