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The research aims to identify a knowledge approach for the preindustrial basic building that is preliminary to the improvement of energy efficiency. Preindustrial basic building refers to existing building resulting from a traditional building process, i.e. preindustrial, constituting the bearing structure of historic centres. The analysis aims to identify the alteration limits of historic and artistic characteristics pertaining to these buildings, in order to improve energy efficiency, from the point of view of mediation between performance issues, according to national and regional laws, and conservation issues, pursued with the restoration of an historical heritage, be it preserved or not. In consideration of the unavoidable preservation of cultural and architectural characteristics, the difficulty of operating on preindustrial building implies the intentional distinction between energy efficiency “improvement” and the “compliance” with the minimum requirements set forth by regulations, from the viewpoint of critical assessment of compatible and actually effective technological solutions, among the ones currently available. In this case, the experimentation of the morphological and typological evaluation of Ferrara building represents the application starting point to develop an evaluation process targeting research objectives. The final outcome is a number of additional and applicative proposals for the current Emilia Romagna regulation on energy efficiency of building. These proposals aim to guide the professional towards the development of improvement projects, in consideration of the distinctive and constituent characteristics of preindustrial basic building. The study represents the first knowledge moment within a wider research process, which is strictly related to the contents and the developments of Marco Zuppiroli Ph.D. dissertation (“Valutazione del fabbisogno di energia termica utile in sistemi aggregati di edilizia pre-industriale di base nel centro urbano di Ferrara”). This Ph.D. dissertation is legitimately the second part of the research. Starting from the methodological assumptions and the final objectives developed during this study, the dissertation provides an in-depth quantitative analysis of the thermal energy demand and the improvement of energy efficiency in preindustrial basic building, through the analytical investigation of the case studies considered and which were analyzed at an urban fabric scale.