Metabolic Approach and Life Cycle Assessment in Building an Energy Community: The Case of the Mondeggi Estate in the Municipality of Bagno a Ripoli

Abstract

The “urban and territorial metabolism” refers to the construction of urban systems by analyzing the directions of energy, water, nutrients, materials, and waste flows in an urban system, with the aim of quantifying the inputs- outputs, and stored parts of the system. In short, it is an evaluative-design approach to the stability and impact of a production system, with the aim of verifying its results in terms of sustainability. The transition from linear production-consumption approaches to circular systems, now accepted by various European public administrations, represents a new direction in the processes of regeneration and transformation of the territory, in order to improve the quality impact of urban and peri-urban areas and meet the environmental objectives set out in the European agenda. On this basis, in developing the meta-project for the eco-sustainable restructuring and functionalization of the Mondeggi Public Estate, the aim of this article concerns the use a metabolic approach to define the conditions for achieving the overall environmental, social, and economic sustainability of the Mondeggi Estate's systems. Specifically, the metabolic approach defined to safeguard and maintain natural and ecosystem resources over time, without producing irreversible alterations, is evaluated through a Life Cycle Assessment considering the relationship between the flows of resources (firstly energy, even considering water) that the 'Tenuta di Mondeggi' system absorbs and produces.