Coming Back to Sustainability: Technological Solutions for an nZEB

Abstract

When man needed the first time to find a shelter, he conformed himself to environmental context, finding in it resources and benefits. Then progress brought man to see Nature as a servant rather than as a valuable ally. The abuse of natural resources has revealed how critical the concept of renewability is and forced man to review his actions. In the last decade sustainability in building design stopped being just an ideal and turned into a duty to fulfill. In order to reduce energetic consumption and CO2 emissions, according to the new European directives, a sustainable building must satisfy performance and functional needs, with the minimal environmental negative effect. Rely on technology is not enough: a valid architectural solution depends strictly on the study of materials, architectural technologies, typological forms of environmental context, which becomes again the best guideline for the designer to draw a proper design, comparing tradition and innovation. For this reason, numerous energy volunteer protocols were developed to meet the demand for high energy-efficient buildings, the nZEB. This study shows how the German Passivhaus is applied to a scholastic building. The strict requirements of the standard are achieved thanks to a reasoned development, which leads to tailored technological, material and plant design solutions of the location where it is applied. After considerations about form and orientation, the building envelope is the main part to focus on: it has to be conceived as a complex multi-functional filter between internal and external environment, responding to structural and performance targets but also to energy efficiency. Man has to cooperate with nature to design energy efficient buildings and environmentally friendly with the users, but mostly to meet new needs for environmental compatibility.