Summary Residence Le Sorgenti A house to the benefit of the city COOPERATIVA SANTA FRANCESCA CABRINI DUE CO-OPERATIVE BUILDING COMPANY- Lodi, ITALY The project Le Sorgenti is the first complete intervention of eco-sustainable construction in the province of Lodi. It includes an energetically autonomous building with really high energy efficiency (30 kwh/m 2 for year) and exclusively powered by renewable sources of energy. The project is promoted by the Cooperative SFCDue, it is non-profit and it will be financed by Banca Popolare Etica that has acknowledged it s really high environmental, ethical and social value. In November 2006 the COOPERATIVA has become partner of SEEC and in November 2007 it also signed a voluntary framework agreement with the Italian Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea that has acknowledged the project as Best Practices for the dissemination of good eco-sustainable practices in the building field. Further to the due charges and fees the COOPERATIVA has committed to refurbish and re-qualify a public building intended for activities in favour of the community. Page 1
End-user area Target Audience Technical New buildings Citizens Energy efficiency Refurbishment of buildings Households Heating Transport and mobility Property owners Cooling Financial instruments Schools and universities Appliances Industry Decision makers Lighting Legal initiatives (regulations, directives, etc) Local and regional authorities CHP Planning issues Transport companies District Heating Sustainable communities Utilities Solar energy User behaviour ESCOs Biomass Education Architects and engineers Wind Other Financial institutions Geothermal Other Hydro power Other Context The project is located in an easily accessible area and in continuity with a landscape area "sensitive" and "delicate" from a morphological and environmental viewpoint, to act as a connection function between the urban settlement system and the rural area. This environmental and building re-qualification is the occasion to carry out a "new door" to enter the town. The green areas design will allow redefining the relationship with the existing urban settlements and the creation of a new strategic connection with the new University centre: this will provide an added value to the whole district. This project becomes the occasion of a re-planning of the existing urban "terminal". The underlying concept is to carry out a self-sufficient housing block with renewable sources of energy that can serve and fit in the environment where it is located. The COOPERATIVA pursues non-profit mutual-aid purposes. Objectives In the area the building industry offers a traditional building typology not very attentive to the environmental sustainability; this project will be the first important intervention of sustainable construction in the province of Lodi and it will become an experimental and pilot-project. The purposes are: CO 2 emissions reduction; energy autonomy of residential units; environmental sustainability and integration by means of the exclusive use of renewable energy sources and a complete project of green areas re-qualification in the whole lot; use of territorial resources and products aimed at the development of local activities and transport pollution decrease; use of tested building technologies and solutions easy to find on the market; attesting the complete economicalsustainability of energy-saving interventions; giving a contribution to the community growth by means of a direct intervention on a public building and through indirect interventions of education, information, distribution and dissemination of the criteria connected to environmental sustainability in the building field. Process The COOPERATIVA intends to carry out a residential complex composed of No. 14 single-family houses and a business centre. The residential units will be built with really high energy efficiency criteria (30 kwh/m 2 for Page 2
year), conformed to the principles of eco-sustainable building and by exclusively using the renewable sources by means of new technological systems. The Cooperative Sf Cabrini Due was born in 1987 from an idea of SF Cabrini parochial community's parish priest who, in order to ease the purchase of new houses for young couples, elderly people and families living and operating in the Fanfani district of Lodi, gave a stimulus to the initiative. Between 1987 and 1989 the COOPERATIVA carried out an 18- flat building. Then as it wasn t possible to find other suitable areas and being thus unable to pursue its company s purpose, the COOPERATIVA split up. In 1995 in consideration of the availability of new building areas in Fanfani district and further to an evergrowing request for pursuing the mutualistic social purposes that guided the previous cooperative, the new Cooperativa Santa Francesca Cabrini Due was created. Between 1999 and 2001 it carried out a residential complex of 8 single-family houses. It is a cooperative company with overriding mutuality; it pursues non-profit mutual-aid purposes and it assigns the building units at the real building cost - even the administrators do not receive any remuneration for the rendered service (in Italy this is a factor giving credibility to companies). From a building viewpoint the first purposes which we concentrated our efforts on have been the lagging and thermal insulation, as the energy saving and efficiency start when the thermal energy yearly requirement is reduced. This is the direction taken in order to certify the houses according to the strictest CASACLIMA agency parameters. We have rediscovered the use of natural materials; we will carry out a ventilated wooden roof with covering made of hip-tiles, wooden attics this will allow to make good use of hollow spaces to house fittings thus eliminating thermal bridges. The houses will have a design characteristic of the local architecture and will have large and duly screened windows on the south side. There will be large outer areas to allow activities on one s own or common ones; our aim was to recreate in a modern and consistent way the old farmyards areas, areas to enjoy and to live well in. Even the technological plants have been carried out according to radical choices. The heart of the plant is a central with vertical geothermal probes with heat pumps to produce hot and cold water. It will be a centralized plant with single meters. This central will be powered by the energy produced by photovoltaic panels that will also supply the single residential units with energy. We will also install solar thermal panels for the production of hot water as integration of the water produced by the heat pumps. All the inner distribution will happen by means of low temperature systems with the help of heating/cooling panels. We will have a plant for the recovery and reuse of rainfalls. A building made this way decreases the need for maintenance and substantially increases the houses salubrity. After a long administrative procedure the construction site will start within the end of 2008. Financial resources and partners The total cost is estimated to amount to 6100KE. During the construction phase there will be a previous bank financing. At the end of the construction the total cost will be as follows: 30% financed by Banca Popolare Etica and the remaining 70% financed by the partner s capital. The COOPERATIVA is partner of S.E.E.C. 2005-2010.(Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign) Page 3
On 16th November 2007 the COOPERATIVA also signed a voluntary framework agreement with the Italian Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea including the project in the implementation Program of the National Action Plan for greenhouse gases reduction for 2007-2007 period, attached to CIPE resolution No. 123/202 (especially Measure no 3 that provides for: Interventi dimostrativi per l incremento dell efficienza energetica e la riduzione delle emissioni di gas climalteranti in distretti industriali, in settori produttivi e nel settore civile e nell edilizia pubblica e nel settore dei transporti ), for the dissemination of eco-sustainable building best practices in the building field. Another partner is Banca Popolare Etica that will finance the intervention as they have recognized it s really high environmental, ethical and social value. Another important partner of our project is Legambiente: we have established with them to develop an accurate dissemination action of the project in consideration of its replicability, as well as an awareness campaign on the use of renewable energy sources. Results Saved CO2 emissions/year: 114.597 Kg Saved energy/year: 230.396 kwh Cost of saved energy/year: 20KE The estimated economical result corresponds to a 10% saving in comparison to the market prices of new buildings further to the saving derived by the large reduction of energy consumption. Incidence of costs in residence Le Sorgenti : 2.450 /sqm local market prices 2.695 /sqm. The project is gaining the whole community s attention: on 12th July 2006 the convention le Sorgenti: a house to the benefit of the city was held in Lodi in the premises of Province of Lodi, under the aegis of the Province and the Municipality of Lodi and Legambiente; in April 2007 the project was presented to the convention for renewable energies organized by the Municipality of Melegnano; in May 2007 the project was presented to one convention in Terra Futura (event promoted by Banca popolare Etica), held in Florence www.terrafutura.it; in November 2007 the project was presented to the URBANPROMO convention in Venice under the umbrella of the campaign for Sustainable Energy in Italy, an initiative by the Italian Ministry for Environment and the European Commission for energy sustainability; in November 2007 the COOPERATIVA organized the convention LodiAmo L energia sostenibile www.lodisostenibile.it. During the construction we will organize informative conventions/days attended by the main suppliers, collaborators of the project. After the construction the energy efficiency data will be monitored with the purpose of experimentation in Universities. Along with the Province of Lodi we are thinking about organizing education days in the high schools of the territory; we are arranging the publication of the project history and its social and territorial implications. Page 4
Lessons learned and repeatability Case Study 321: Cooperativa Santa Francesca Cabrini Due, Italy The Cooperativa Santa Francesca Cabrini Due has an overriding mutuality and it pursues non-profit mutual purposes and with this project, in brief, intends to: facilitating the purchase of new houses for young couples, elderly people and families at sustainable prices; giving a real answer to a need that originates from the common people; promoting a quality choice of living, involving the partners that have been sharing from the beginning the guiding principle of the project:, that is building healthy and quality houses where it is possible to live well and in harmony with the valuable surrounding environment; expressing the willingness to being useful to the district and the city by proposing a project that can be easily replicated by others, manifesting the economical sustainability and feasibility of a quality project such as Le Sorgenti ; giving a real answer to the problems in a period of energy and environmental emergency because the cooperative wants to show the absolute replicability of the intervention in any other context. The winning element of the initiative is the use of territorial resources and products that can be easily found on the market; the use of widely tested technologies to be chosen according to the environmental context where they are located. In order to replicate the project one shall identify the more suitable renewable sources in order to guarantee the energy autonomy in the area. As for the energy and pollution issues connected to residential building the solutions of energy autonomy and federalism are the most efficient answers to be adopted. Each morphologically homogeneous area has the possibility to find the solution that can better employ the local resources. Further to guaranteeing the complete energy autonomy, this system will trigger a really important commercial, industrial and service network. Le Sorgenti will become a positive instrument of modification of local habits and customs, building market and energy market in the Province of Lodi area. Contact for more information: Project Web Site: www.progettolesorgenti.it Organisation/ Agency: Cooperativa Santa Francesca Cabrini Due Co-Operative Building Company Main contact: Address: Mario Borsatti - President Via Cavour 31, 26900 Lodi, Italy Tel: +39 0371 428348 Fax: +39 0371 428378 E-mail: Mario.borsatti@progettolesorgenti.it, Mario.borsatti@crbimpresit.it Printed reports or other literature available: No. 1000 printed leaflets and brochures. The website has been online since 25th January 2007; up until 14th October 2008 there have been more than 60 000 hits. Other contacts: Banca Popolare Etica-Mr. Alberto Fantuzzo- afantuzzo@bancaetica.com Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea-Italy- Mr. Antonio Lumicisi lumicisi.antonio@minambiente.it Legambiente onlus Italy Deputy Director General Mr. Andrea Poggio andrea@legambiente.org Page 5