VELUXlab: A sustainable prototype of active house for innovation

Abstract

Active House is a vision of buildings that create healthier and more comfortable lives for their occupants without impacting negatively on the climate. The concept is based on a responsive behavior of the building, capable to answer instantly to the climate strains changing automatically its configurations and assuring the indoor comfort and energy saving. Active House Alliance is the no-profit organization that is working on this definition and Politecnico di Milano, as member, is developing a solution for the adaptation to the south Europe, where the climate and the weather stress are different. VELUXlab is the first prototype of this vision in Italy. It is the first Italian NZEB in a university campus and, soon, it will be certified also as the first Italian Active House. The wireless sensor network system allows to control in real time the duo envelope (multi-layer dry construction) and automation technology performances, strengthening the good results obtained from the virtual dynamic simulations made during the design process.