City Life Magazine 11 | Page 27

FEATURES 27 ENERGY MODELING, WHAT’S THIS? IN WHICH KIND OF ARCHITECTURE IS APPLICABLE? It’s an energy modeling in dynamic regime, sometimes semi-stationary, it concern the building management throughout the year and it’s applicable to any architectural type, new or existing. It is a powerful prediction tool, which makes the user responsible and aware, by dynamic simulation he could: -estimate the achievable savings with energy saving actions; -optimize the design choices, with a various possibilities comparison; -evaluate time-varying phenomena, considering interactions between different aspects (for example, including ex ante growing heating and cooling consumption bended to reducing power for lighting). A LEED certified building consumes 30% and 40% less energy compared to a similar non-certified building. LEED energy modeling requires dynamic arrangements and to get a good score, it’s inevitable to make efficient and effective design choices. RECENTLY IN TRENTO YOU HAVE CERTIFICATE A BUILDING WITH AN INNOVATIVE LIGHTING SYSTEM, BOTH NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL, COULD YOU TELLS US SOMETHING ABOUT THIS PROJECT? It’s the Delta Informatica Spa in Spini di Gardolo (TN) headquarter, which gained an high score in energy efficiency thanks to a high-performance covering, a solar photovoltaic system that occupy almost the whole roof, an enhanced geothermal system (for cooling and heating) and an efficient lighting system. That one in particular ensure an high comfort and minimize energy consumption, especially for cooling, often overlooked by designers. In case the natural light is enough, the lighting controlled by an automatic system sensors, related also to people presence or absence, disables the artificial lights to save energy. In addition, to avoid glare and overheating, it’s installed an external shading system that is activated when the solar luminosity exceeds a predetermined level and turn autonomously following the solar path. Delta is certified, according to the LEED 2009 Italy NC, with the GOLD level; 40% of the score reached is bound on energy performance of the building-plants modular system, followed closely by the outdoor spaces sustainability. This is an example how designing clear and effective strategies achieve high performance without extra costs that result in zero-cost scores.