Case Study: nZEC - New construction of 34 dwellings in Via Fillia, Roma, Italy (UNDER MONITORING)

Short Description

This development consist of one building of 34 flats, for cooperative rental to housholds, set in the south east part of Rome at a latitude of 42°, in an area named “Via Longoni”.

The design is based on eco-sustainability. Materials and technologies have been chosen in order to minimize the impact on the environment, while adopting innovative technological solution for the building services, ventilation system, allocation of energy costs, and use of solar gains.

The building has an “L” shape, which creates a wide green area on the rectangular plot, which functions as a social square. The L shape, which is less compact than a square shape, gives the possibility to have apartments with double exposition, which is extremely important to facilitate natural ventilation and cooling during summer nights.

Key Elements

Work with Residents

All the tenants have been provided with a booklet explaining the operation of the building technical services.

Funding

The cooperative has been funded by Regione Lazio for the construction of apartments to be rent to the households.

Thermal Insulation

Cavity walls with insulation in between have been used for the external walls. Also the partition wall between two apartments is thermally and acoustically insulated.

Windows and Shading

Wooden frame windows with double glazing, combined with pre-insulated bloc for the obscuring roll-up system.

Ventilation

The building has a centralized extraction system (Aldes) which ensure an air change rate of 0,5 h-1. Fresh air is supplied via inlet vents installed over the windows in dining room and sleeping rooms, while extraction takes place in the kitchen and in the bathroom.

Heating and Hot Water

The building has 3 staircases. The apartments of each staircase have one thermal system in common. Each thermal system has the service room on the under roof floor, and a vertical distribution system. In each service room there are 3 (condensing) gas boilers connected in series which operate on the basis of the effective heat requirement. In the service room there is also the hot water storage, which is connected to the gas boilers and to the solar thermal system. The heating fluid temperature is regulated on the bases of the external temperature registered by a climatic sensor.

Solar Thermal

The solar thermal collectors are installed just above the technal service rooms. 2 groups of 6 collectors for each service room. The systems make use of the drain back technology, which simply empties the collector of the thermal fluid when there is a risk of overheating, or freezing. This requires just a bit higher consumption of electricity for the circulation pumps, but gives an excellent protection to the entire system reducing assistance costs.

Monitoring

Click here to access the monitoring data on the HIVE Database!

Main Results

The design is based n a sustainable approach; the environmental impact of the building has been reduced with the use of traditional materials combied to innovative technologies. Which also provide an excellent comfort. The systematic control of the thermal losses, the adoption of solar collectors to produce hot water, the innovative concept of the heating system with condensing boilers, measurement and allocation of consumption costs, they all contribute to contain the overall energy consumption.
At the same time, the design and planning of external areas, vegetation and facades are ought to improve comfort in all the seasons, mitigating the heat in summer and limiting exposition to the winds in winter.

Lessons learned

Additional Information

Ms Rossana Zaccaria
Legacoop Abitanti - The Italian Federation of Housing Cooperatives
E-mail: r.zaccaria@ancab.coop
Web: www.legacoopabitanti.coop