Can a building produce more energy than it consumes, exclusively from renewable sources? Certainly! This is demonstrated by Casa SN (named after its owners Sara and Nicola Berlanda) which has recently become the first building in Europe—and Italy—to be certified under the Zero Energy standard of the International Living Future Institute (ILFI).

Casa SN is a single-family house located in Arco, not far from Lake Garda, in Trentino-South Tyrol. This region is generally considered to be at the forefront in Italy for progress towards a sustainable future free from fossil fuels.

Divided into a ground floor and a basement for a total area of about 350 square meters on a project area of about 2,500 square meters, the building autonomously produces about 22% more than its annual energy needs from renewable sources (geothermal and photovoltaic).

Unlike other sustainability standards, ILFI certification is not based on a theoretical operating model, but on real performances, monitored for at least 12 consecutive months from the beginning of the occupation. ILFI’s Zero Energy standard requires that one hundred percent of the energy needs on an annual basis will be covered by renewable energy produced on site. Combustion from fossil sources is not allowed.

In line with the requirements of ILFI protocols, the design of Casa SN has therefore focused primarily on reducing energy demand thanks to various strategies: study of the orientation and shape of the building, insulation, triple glazed windows complete with shading systems, and a real-time monitoring system of energy consumption and production. 

Remaining heating needs of the rooms (a radiant floor system) and hot water are covered by a water heat pump which exchanges with an underground well (remainder of the pre-existing floriculture facility) in combination with a 500 litre-storage tank. In addition, a natural ventilation system with heat recovery ensures the necessary exchange of air.

A wide use of natural lighting and LED lamps allow a low consumption of electricity, powered by a photovoltaic system on the roof consisting of 36 monocrystalline silicon panels for a nominal power of 11 kW which also allows the heat pump to operate.

The result is a very high-performance building, with an EUI (Energy Use Intensity) index, i.e. the ratio between energy performance and total area, equal to 10, or the same number as the Bullitt Center, the ILFI headquarters in Seattle (USA) considered to be the greenest commercial building in the world.

“We wanted this house to be as sustainable as possible because of the way it is built and the way it is maintained,” says Nicola Berlanda, the owner. “Now she is the one who encourages us to use it according to availability: is it sunny? We turn on washing machines and dishwashers at the most productive times! Cloudy? Let’s postpone it until tomorrow! These are small attentions, but they can help to change…the world.”

This is also an excellent result for Living Future Europe (LFE), the association established at NOI Techpark affiliated to ILFI that promotes the diffusion of the Living Building Challenge philosophy in Europe. Living Future Europe also provides technical and educational support for projects, products, and companies. “This project,” says Carlo Battisti, president of LFE, “demonstrates that it is possible to create buildings with a positive energy impact, contributing effectively to the ambitious decarbonisation goal set by the European Union. The fact that this example is born from the vision and tenacity of a family leads us to reiterate that suitable technologies already exist and everyone can create their own Living Building and add their own piece to the construction of a Living Future.”

“Toxic chemicals threaten human health and compromise the resilience of our ecosystems,” said Amanda Sturgeon, CEO, of the International Living Future Institute, during last week’s launch event of the Declare EU label in South Tyrol, Italy. “Having better information will allow manufacturers, architects and designers to make the best decisions possible.”

The Declare launch event was one of a series of events held in Italy last week with the goal of supporting the transparency and health of the European building market. As manufacturers around the world grasp with new consumer expectations and government regulations, the European market aims to take a leading role and is leaning into their green building requirements. These include the Living Building Challenge (Red List), the list of substances of very high concern (SVHC) from the REACH regulation, as well as the SIN List of substances present in the final product.

“We want to be the first Italian company to register to Declare,” shared Giovanni Toniato from Eurofinestra, an Italian family-owned window manufacturer. “Having a sustainable approach for buildings is fundamental for our future.”

The audience at both the Declare Launch event and the Klimahouse conference were inspired by ILFI’s Amanda Sturgeon. “We have to change our mindset to create more living buildings and more living products. Change the way we think how to use materials, how we create them, how we build our buildings.”

“The biggest challenge in doing this is really us and our ability to change what we value in the world,” she said during her keynote address.

The Institute was also a main partner of the Klimahouse Startup Award, with Amanda Sturgeon introducing the final award winner. Including startups from Italy, Austria, Germany, Portugal and Switzerland, the theme of this challenge was “The Human Factor.” Focusing on the impact that smart building, smart living and smart city technologies will have on people, Amanda presented the award to the winner, Tante Lotte Design.

This was the first time that the Institute participated with a booth at the Klimahouse exhibition, a leading trade show on sustainable construction in Italy, with more than 450 exhibitors. Staffed by both Amanda, myself, and members of the Italian Collaborative, we introduced the Living Building Challenge and the other ILFI programs and labels to hundreds of qualified professionals over the four days.

We continued these conversations into the night, gathering Collaborative Members from across Italy together at one of Bolzano’s historic restaurants, Vögele, dating back to 1277.

I believe that Declare is the beginning of a revolution in building material transparency. As the Executive Director of the Living Future Europe Initiative and a European green building specialist, I know the sector has been waiting for this work. I am thrilled to play a part to bring clarity and transparency to the products of Italy and Europe, and help grow a Living Future.

Written by Carlo Battisti, Executive Director of the Living Future Europe Initiative

In a prehistoric ravine carved out by a Mediterranean river lies the city of Matera, a unique place where the lines distinguishing the environment from the built environment have faded with the patina of time. The former invades the latter, natural caves become dwellings, and the rock-hewn dwellings become natural in a steady osmotic relationship that continues today.

This past February the Living Building Challenge was brought to the heart of Matera. In an event organized by the Living Building Challenge Collaborative in Italy, more than 120 architects and engineers gathered to discuss the how the past can inform the future, and how Matera stands as a case study of the Living Building Challenge philosophy.

Matera: From national shame to the heritage of humanity

Inhabited since the 10th century BC and abandoned after WWII, the historical city center of Matera, the “Sassi”¹ was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1993 and acknowledged as an

“Outstanding example … for future generations on how to use natural resources such as the sun, the rock and the water” (Criterion 3)

“A relevant example of an architectural ensemble and landscape illustrating many significant stages in human history” which led to the creation of “sophisticated urban structures built with excavation materials” (Criterion 4)

“Relevant example of traditional human settlement … which has maintained a harmonious relationship with its natural environment and a balance between human action and ecosystem for over nine millennia” (Criterion 5)

A settlement model characterized by a close relationship with the nature of the place, every point of Matera, from the Sasso Barisano to the Civita, to the Sasso Caveoso, is closely related to the ravine.² This environmental characteristic gives the city several layers: From the changing color of the rock to the sound of the water playing the soundtrack of the day.

The surrounding architecture showcases the basic principles of community health and happiness. The people-oriented environment consists of biophilic places with invisible connections allowing flexibility, efficiency, and freedom. The houses preserve the features that have been characterizing them for millennia, in a practical dialogue with the contemporary that contributes to its protection.

Stone, wood, glass, and iron can be found in the facades, in the doors of the caves, in the small windows and the railings. Their use paints a particular view of the Sassi, where colors and materials join the spikes of the rock and the blue of the sky in a silent dance of beautiful images.

Time is kept by the sun dancing with structure shadows, following each other to the bottom of the rock-hewn caves. The natural light, a symbol of life and color, has built these environments, tracing the excavation line of the caves and lighting up their depths. The few motor vehicles that can reach the houses and slow mobility offer unexpected silences and an unparalleled quality of life in the open air.

A multitude of hanging gardens cover the patios; vines climb, like spiders, out of the dug-out walls at noon. The geological landscape becomes building material and protagonist to everyday life. The natural forms of the bending paths designed for donkeys flourish today with botanical species. Everything coils up from the water collecting channels, where both fast vortices and the transparent slits of vast and placid cisterns, rest, immobile and seemingly eternal.

Everything appears as a picture of humanized nature. The paths and the internal environments change with seasons and time; open and close to intertwine within public and private needs. Interconnected, like the arteries and capillaries of living beings.

And like flesh, history takes its toll. The first laws to help Matera evolve from “shame” to “heritage” provided for the relocation of the Sassi inhabitants to new districts, and the allocation of abandoned houses, slated as uninhabitable, to the state property. In 1986, the government started an extensive rehabilitation project, and the overall coherence the settlement achieved evokes the particular emotions that can be experienced in the city of Matera today. Thus, the Sassi districts of Matera are an outstanding example of the history characterizing the unique regenerative value of many European towns.

Matera: A Living Community?

The evolution of Matera as human settlement exemplifies the regenerative building paradigm, particularly evident in two elements of the Sassi:

• A spatial arrangement organized around shared spaces where the inhabitants carried out collaborative practices for the management of daily activities;
• The full integration of human settlement in the natural environment, obtained by developing and improving construction techniques aimed at using the orographic features to adapt to the dry climate of the site. The element that has decisively influenced urban development is the need to guarantee water supply through the collection and storage of spring and rainwater with an extensive and widespread system of pipes and cisterns.

During this past February, the experience of Matera was the context in which the group discussed the Living Building Challenge and Living Community Challenge. Alicia Daniels Uhlig shared the Living Community Challenge protocol with the 120 architects and designers in attendance. In his welcoming address, Michele Massaro, one of the members of the Italian Collaborative, underlined how the urban development practices of Matera exemplify a built sustainable environment. Giuseppe Larato, another Collaborative member, summarized the most popular protocols on the sustainability of buildings, paving the way for a discussion on the Living Building Challenge.

The discussions that followed inspired: Francesco Fiorito, from the Politecnico of Bari, highlighted the importance of reducing the island heat effect in urban centers; Fabio Fatiguso analyzed the Sassi as a case study of urban resilience to counteract the effects of climate change. Finally, I gave an overview of the LBC protocol and described the mission of the International Living Future Institute.

Matera stands as a model of a community of high spirituality and beauty, which—as Stendhal said—”…is a promise of happiness.” Truth, authenticity, and a strong sense of empathy pervaded the conversation, as it has the city for a millennium. Having Matera as both backdrop and palimpsest for this event created a path to balance the ancient and the modern, and introduce the philosophy to new practitioners.

This article was written in collaboration with Giuseppe Larato, Michele Massaro and Michele Scavetta.

Notes

1. The name “Sassi” in Matera refers to two large districts that together with the “Civita” and the “Piano” form the historic center of the city of Matera.
2. The ravine is typical karst morphology of the Murgia plateau. The ravines are deep erosive cuts even more than 100 meters deep, very similar to canyons, dug into the rock by rainwater. Its walls, which are very steep and vertical in some cases, may be a few meters or more than 200 meters from each other.

Casa SN House (the initial letters of the two owners Sara and Nicola Berlanda) is Italy’s first Living Building Challenge registered project.  The home will be built in Trento, Italy close to the gorgeous Lake Garda.

The site was a former greenhouse, and thus the owners will demolish the current structure and work to remediate the land (concrete basements, small metal structures, canopies, irrigation components). They will then construct a one-story residential unit in conjunction with the existing underground floor, which will be used as a warehouse.

The respect for the environment is a topic that has always been at these two owners’ hearts, and after attending a few Macro Design Studio events they decided to pursue the Living Building Challenge.

Casa SN initially was registered with LBC 3.0, but after the release of the 3.1, the design team, including Andrea Rigo, architect, and Matteo Rigo, MEP engineer has decided to switch to the newest version. The project is pursuing the Petal certification, including the performance areas Place, Energy and Beauty.

The design team will focus on realizing a house that will produce one-hundred-and-five percent of the project’s energy needs through on-site renewable energy, a goal that seems feasible to the team. The Living Building Challenge far exceeds the European Union’s standard for construction as outlined in the current directives on energy efficiency.

The team is currently evaluating strategies to meet the Energy and Water performance areas. “In these weeks, explains Carlo Battisti, we are investigating the materials available in Italy to see if LBC-compliant solutions are available. This part of the design process is very motivating because it gives us the opportunity to start the discussion about LBC principles with manufacturers, which will hopefully drive innovative changes.”

The design process of Casa SN is in full swing, and the homeowners expect to complete the project sometime during 2017.

Macro Design Studio provides sustainability consulting services and helps clients to go beyond compromising the environmental, social or economic spheres. Since 2014, Macro Design Studio’s owners Carlo Battisti and Paola Moschini also began attending Living Future to learn more about Living Building Challenge (LBC) philosophy and to achieve Living Future Accreditation. In the Spring of 2015, the two launched the Living Building Challenge Collaborative: Italy and organized the 1^st edition of REGENERATION (the second one has just ended last April), the European design contest for young architects and engineers entirely based on LBC. Their hard work now begins now to bear fruit as the first Italian LBC project registered earlier this year.

For further information: info@macrodesignstudio.it