Natural Gas (NG) is commonly used for satisfying population needs for heating, domestic hot water production and cooking, particularly in countries where the price of electricity is high. Typically, NG is extensively distributed on urbanized territory and can be exploited by using different technologies. As a consequence, primary energy is usually consumed directly in buildings, allowing high efficiency conversion but also producing pollutants in urban areas. In this paper a comprehensive analysis on NG use in the Italian domestic and tertiary building sector has been carried out, in order to evaluate energy and environmental impact of this fuel on different climatic and geographical contexts, also considering the temporal fluctuation of consumption. The aim of the work is to trace a reliable and up-to-date scenario of NG employment for building heating in Italy, which is one of the EU countries where this source is more widely used. The study was carried out under the research program "Analysis and evaluation of the current status of the reduction measures of environmental impacts due to heating energy consumption in Italy", funded by the Italian Ministry of Environment. The data presented are an essential basis for the development of building energy efficiency and consumption rationalization policies. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.