Starting from this month, a house planned with great attention to detail - including a small external garden – will welcome visitors to Fiera Milano with access from the South entrance to the complex.
The construction is an
átika house
, an energy-saving demo-house that has been developed as part of an international project about building sustainability promoted by Velux, a leading brand in the sector of building materials, in partnership with Fiera Milano and under the aegis of the Ministry of the Environment and Economic Development.
The átika house presented to the press on 3 September by the MD of VELUX Italia, Massimo Buccilli, by Territory and Urban Planning councillor for the Lombardy Region, Davide Boni, and by the chairman of Fiera Milano, Michele Perini, will be open to the general public in spring 2010 during the time when the exhibition centre will be hosting the events.
The goal of the project is to make people aware of issues connected with energy conservation and environmental sustainability. In contrast with a traditional house, átika is a healthy house characterized by low energy consumption, good indoor comfort levels and optimal natural lighting across the year, in compliance with the latest EU energy conservation regulations.
A scientific study carried out by the interuniversity centre A.B.I.T.A., which includes Milan Politecnico, Florence University, University of Naples Federico II and La Sapienza University of Rome, is behind the development of átika.
The study shows that light optimisation and natural ventilation, roof inclination, the shape of the house and its orientation, the position of the windows and its internal and external screens ensure better natural ventilation, reducing indoor temperature by up to 8° C on the mansard floor, with enormous advantages in terms of air conditioning costs and comfort.
Furthermore, owing to natural ventilation, the air is changed within 6 minutes, while artificial ventilation would require 40.
átika uses VELUX solar collectors to cover part of winter heating and hot sanitary water requirements. The innovative solar cooling system provides summer ventilation, by exploiting the thermal energy produced in excess by the solar collectors in the summer.
