ZEMCH 2015 - International Conference Proceedings | Page 13

INTRODUCTION
Alberto La Tegola, Eliana de Nichilo

The “International Conference of ZEMCH”, 2015 edition, was held for the first time in Apulia in the
cities of Bari and Lecce at the Department of Engineering of the University of Salento and the
Polytechnic of Bari on days 22-25 September 2015, after the initiatives of the University of Glasgow
(Scotland) in 2012, the University of Miami (Florida) in 2013, the University of Londrina (Brasil) 2014.
The Congress was attended by speakers from 35 countries from all continents together with the
most representative authorities of the Apulia Region and the professional world.
For the event organization, in fact, ZEMCH Network asked the intervention of the Professional
Associations (Architects P.P.C. and Engineers) of the regional and provincial territory where the
conference would had been held.
This experimental co-organization formula was selected to reach a wider sharing and participation
among all the parts involved in “governance” processes and according to ZEMCH “mission”: it is
true to say that the promotion and encouragement of a culture of environmental sustainability
in both territorial and urban transformations, but also in the construction of public and private
building, can be effective if administrations, professionals and enterprises share the same goals,
i.e. sustainable buildings construction techniques and sustainable building management.
In this light, the Apulian professional boards, spent their efforts to transform the initiative into a
major opportunity for their members’ professional growth and lifelong learning.
Therefore the Apulian edition provided a cycle of technical seminars and workshops in addition to
the international conference, to be considered an opportunity for professionals involved (experts,
professionals, administrators) to compare experiences, procedures and construction techniques
related to sustainable design, in a broader international scene.

Brief history of sustainability in Apulia
Our region since the enactment of the Regional Law n. 13 “Rules for sustainable living” on 10 June
2008 and the implementation of the D.R.A.G. guidelines (Regional document of general territorial
organization), has adopted some essential tools to disseminate sustainable living in cities and
provinces of Apulia.
We must quote some of the essential enactments on sustainability in our regional legislation:
• DGR n. 2272 on 24th November 2009, “ITACA Protocol Puglia 2009” that defines the
sustainability certification system of residential buildings in accordance with Articles 9 and
10 of the Regional Law n. 13/2008 “Rules for sustainable living”, and includes guidelines and
annexes to certify the environmental sustainability of buildings with a residential use;
• Resolution n. 3 “ITACA Protocol Puglia 2011 - Residential” on 16th January 2013 (published in
the Official Bulletin of the Region, BURP, n. 26 on 19th February 2013), that replaced the previous
Protocol and contains the updated guidelines and the free calculation software, that also enables
automatic compilation and printing of the certificate in conformity to the approved models;

11