POCACITO - Italy

Food waste recycling

clf — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 13:42:22 +0000

The City of Milan started the door to door collection of organic (food) waste in some city areas in 2012. After 1.5 years, the service has been extended to all households in the city. Food waste is collected in special biodegradable bags and transferred to an anaerobic digestion plant which generates biogas and compost. Thanks to the high involvement of citizens, the current recycling rate of food waste in Milan is already above the EU target of 50% by 2020. That is why Milan is currently considered the international leader in organic waste collection and recycling. Also, in 2014, the City of Milan has pledged to develop its overall Food Policy on a five year term.

ecoBUDGET Bologna

clf — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 14:37:18 +0000

ecoBUDGET, an environmental management tool designed specifically for local authorities, has been adopted by the City of Bologna in 2001 as a part of a larger European project. Through the use of ecoBUDGET, the traditional financial budgeting system of the city has been complemented by an environmental budget, which measures natural resources instead of money. ecoBUDGET provides a set of indicators together with short and long-term targets for planning, monitoring and reporting on the consumption of environmental resources within the area of the city. The main aim of ecoBUDGET is to keep the use of environmental resources within set limits.

Habitat Lab - high energy efficiency

clf — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 12:33:17 +0000

The built environment has a profound impact on our natural environment, economy, health, and productivity. Breakthroughs in building science, technology, and operations are now available to designers, builders, operators, and owners who want to build green and maximize both economic and environmental performance. The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) is changing the built environment through the LEED green building certification program. The aim is to spread the concept of sustainable building and to promote good practices of design and construction. In this sense, the green movement offers an important opportunity to respond to the challenges of our time, including climate change, dependence on non-renewable and expensive energy resources, and threats to human health. Habitat Lab was built at an existing site, blending renovation and new construction to create a 1,200 square meter facility with the goal of achieving LEED certification standards. It involves some building solutions and technologies to help ensure an optimal combination of operational efficiency, indoor comfort, and sustainability. With the highest LEED Platinum score in Italy, it exemplifies a good manner to create the sustainable cities of tomorrow.

Energy retrofits for an administrative building

clf — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 12:22:44 +0000

Conversion of the former post office building situated close to the Bolzano train station was completed in 2006 for use by the South Tyrol state administration. The refurbishment and raising of the building, which is about 20,000 cubic meters, were designed in accordance with “CasaClima” requirements, an Italian energy certification for sustainable and passive buildings. It should be noted that the building is considered the first certified administration building in passive house standards worldwide, with a power consumption of about a liter (10 kWh/m²) of gas per year. This concretely demonstrates the role that local administration can assume in exemplifying the potential for energy-saving.