Light school buildings. A new way to look at public educational building

Is it necessary to accept as a rule that the energetic and constructive quality must be directly proportional to the building cost? Is financial availability a necessary, but not sufficient, condition, for the architectural quality? Analyzing the scholastic buildings in Piemonte (a region in northwest Italy) we would like to understand if constructive quality, energetic performances and construction costs are inversely proportional through them or not. Can a limited financial availability strongly condition the construction of an efficient and good quality building? Six study cases have been analyzed by an energetic, constructive and building costs, point of view The intent is t to compare the buildings shell technologies and their costs, to understand which kind of constructive systems can be used to answer to the reduced amount of money the public councils can spend, without to renounce to high energetic performances. Which are the strongest rules that condition the building choices? Which kind of materials and constructive systems have been used? Techniques and materials are still part of the traditional way to build? Are we looking for new solutions? Could wood prefabricated buildings and low environmental impact be an alternative answer? Could the new approach produce a social and educational consequences? In many cases the use of new materials and constructive system started from the public sector and in only in a later period of time has been applied to the private one. The need to produce in a short period of time solutions able to answer to the new norms could have changed this situation.