Strategies to assess the sustainability in the rehabilitation process - a tool for interventions in old centres

In order to reduce the pace of new constructions, it is necessary to rethink the city and act upon the built environment taking into account the impact of the urban expansion. These interventions must be conditioned by the need to guide human activity towards the sustainability principles. This paper presents a sustainability assessment model for buildings located in old city centres which have historical characteristics and are shaped by a built fabric of high cultural value but are often characterised by vacant houses and constructive degradation. The model was based on the analysis of other assessment systems used across the world and also on the study and characterisation of these specific urban areas. The main objective was to create a decision support tool to guide designers and technicians involved in interventions in the built environment, as well as the user in terms of occupation and building maintenance, particularly regarding resource consumption and waste generation.