National portal for the energy certification of buildings: DOCET

European Directive 2002/91/CE on the energy performance of buildings provides that "[...] Member states shall apply the methodology for the calculation of the energy performance of buildings [...]", Article 3, and provides for the definition of simplified methods for energy certification purposes in order to reduce the costs to be borne by final users. In Italy, the regulatory framework on the energy performance of buildings has been transposed through UNI TS 11300-1/2 Technical Standards; thanks to the recent publication of National Guidelines for the Energy Certification of Buildings, Ministerial Decree 26 June 2009, the procedures for the issuing of the energy certificate for buildings have been regulated at national level. Article 5, Annex A of the above mentioned Decree provides for the use of the calculation method implemented in the DOCET software, for the calculation of the energy performance index for heating and for the production of domestic hot water in case of asset rating calculation method. DOCET is a calculation tool for the energy certification of buildings developed and implemented by ITC-CNR, the Construction Technologies Institute of the Italian National Research Council and ENEA, the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and the Sustainable Economic Development. These two bodies are in charge, at national level, of the research activities carried out in the field of energy efficiency of buildings. The idea behind the DOCET software is to create a calculation tool with a simplified interface for the energy certification of existing residential buildings. Its objective is to act as a national reference portal for the energy certification of buildings as well as to effectively support the identification of the main energy criteria to be used for the evaluation of the environmental sustainability of buildings.