Among the activities scheduled for the 2009 edition of Marmomacc, there will be a conference on the 2nd of October in the Puccini Centrocongressi conference center with the collaboration of the “National Institute for Urban Planning and Architects, Planners, Landscape Architects and Curators” from Verona. The conference will be devoted to exhibiting responsible construction values when using stone.

The proliferation of studies and research on energy and sustainability of the world’s environment and, specifically, in highly populated and dense urban areas, have increasingly brought the issues of responsibility and balance in the earth’s environment to the forefront.

The string of events consisting of operating quarries, processing labs, transportation and use, which serves as the basis for stone material production, mainly affects the transformation of the earth and the delicate balance of the environment.

Sustainability studies on this material specifically emphasize the development of system architecture for a constructive use of stone. This makes it possible to measure the level of efficiency and optimization of materials that are being used in relation to the place, the weather, the resources, the economy and the level of comfort. Some countries like the United States have developed LEED certification systems to promote responsible building practices. These systems are based on the principles of sustainability that evaluate the location of sites where the work is being done, water use efficiency, energy consumption, adaptability and other factors in order to indicate what the most sustainable materials are for each individual project.

Stone, as a building material with natural features that can be highly useful in construction for the sustainability of the environment, is about to be entered into this system. During the event, the Marmomacc fair has planned to organize a conference concerning these current matters of high importance that will bring together the research of architects, planners and technicians who are participating in this project with researchers and stone producers who are sensitive to the issue. The goal of these studies is to initiate a positive process that will set a sustainable criterion for choosing stone materials and using them in landscapes and architecture.