Student housing design competition in Milan

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The main theme proposed for the competition was the harmonious and sustainable balance between built elements and nature, between carbon dioxide produced and absorbed, between costs and revenues, and between public and private. The central intent was to achieve a project characterized by a neutral balance of its carbon footprint, in favor of climate, economy, nature and community.
In this regard, the sustainability strategies included in the concept were also inspired by the guidelines of the LEED® v4 certification protocol.
The project included 3 buildings, as well as an underground parking lot. The first, the main one, is a conventioned studentate, while the other two are smaller single-story pavilions, both intended for neighborhood services.
The student residential portion, the main building, is raised off the ground above rich vegetation on the site and has six floors. It provides 439 beds and common spaces both distributed on the floors and grouped together.
The compactness of the circular plan of the main building is interrupted on each floor by striking extrusions that provide opportunities for the inclusion of study spaces as well as terraces for relaxation. The student residence is directly connected to the underground, private parking lots, which provide 21 parking spaces for the disabled, 15 with charging stations for electric vehicles, 17 regular parking spaces and 75 bicycle parking spaces.
The other two buildings, conceived as public services, are two small circular pavilions totaling about 1200 m2 gross, resulting in “Neighborhood Shops and Neighborhood Services,” both with green roofs and built on a single floor.
Given the intended use of the project building, one of the main objectives in developing the plant design at this stage was to maximize the modularity and flexibility of use of the spaces themselves, as well as the use of high-efficiency generation equipment. The design idea, also supported by LEED® protocol guidelines, was therefore to choose technologies aligned with the objective by adopting only electrically powered systems.This was in order to ensure energy supply from the present photovoltaic system or energy from the grid that will be delivered, as a feature of the supply, 100% from green energy.
A VRV system, a direct expansion summer and winter air conditioning system, was chosen for heating and cooling uses, offering numerous installation and management advantages. In addition, a mechanical ventilation system consisting of heat recovery units installed in the false ceilings on the floors was provided to ensure indoor environmental comfort. Regarding artificial lighting, again in compliance with the limits prescribed by LEED®, interior and exterior LED luminaires were chosen to ensure maximum efficiency, considerable service life and less maintenance.
When selecting building materials, special care was taken to ensure that materials with low carbon emissions, sourced within short distances of the construction site, with end-of-life recyclability characteristics, and with certified environmental performance were identified.
In order to control this aspect, a life cycle assessment analysis, LCA Analysis, was implemented, conducted on the estimation of key design aspects: quality and quantity of building materials used, building energy consumption and self-production of renewable energy on site, quantity and type of plant species planted in the forested area. The goal of the final carbon footprint balance was neutrality.
The proposed project also considered various measures to achieve the greatest savings in water resources with systems for reducing indoor usage, water recovery and storage, flood control, implementation of phyto-purification systems, and collection of gray water produced during use.

CARATTERISTICHE DI SOSTENIBILITÀ DEL PROGETTO DI UNO STUDENTATO 

1.  Air handling units with high efficiency heat recovery and outside air flow rates according to ASHRAE 62.1.2010
2.  High-efficiency HVAC equipment
3.  HVAC equipment with low flow rates
4.  Water management and rainwater harvesting
5.  LED lighting fixtures
6.  Maximisation of natural light inputs into spaces
7.  Use of low emissivity, high recycled content and regionally sourced materials
8.  Presence of charging stations for electric vehicles
9.  Light-coloured external cladding materials
10. Local production of electricity from photovoltaic panels

CERTIFICATION

Rating di Certificazione: LEED® BD+C v4: New construction and major renovation
Certification level: LEED® Gold

ACTIVITIES

Environmental sustainability of the intervention

Activity of analysis of the environmental sustainability of the intervention, especially referring to the issues below; all the issues reported, were analyzed and proposed interweaving them with the requirements of the LEED® protocol.

– Analysis of the energy efficiency of the systems: selection of high-efficiency HVAC and electrical systems in order to limit the building’s energy consumption.

– Design of efficient use of water resources: water-sanitary equipment and toilet flush cisterns with low water consumption were selected. In addition, a rainwater harvesting system was set up both for irrigation purposes and to replenish the water table through connection to leaking wells. Finally, a system of treatment, through phytodepuration, and collection of gray water produced during use has been implemented.

– Indoor Space Thermal Comfort Assessment: heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems were chosen for the concept in order to meet the requirements of the ASHRAE 55-2010 Thermal Comfort Conditions for Human Occupancy standard. This procedure involves calculating the PMV (Predicted Mean Vote) and PPD (Percentage of Person Dissatisfied) value in order to assess the ideal comfort of the occupants in each space and support in the design phase the proper improvements to pursue the goal. In addition, the building’s mechanical ventilation was designed to ensure the healthiness of the spaces to protect the health of the occupants.
Lighting comfort was analyzed by allowing users the possibility of regulation in individual spaces and small group regulation, for spaces with collective occupancy.

– Sustainability assessment of outdoor spaces and landscape: choice of exterior finishing materials, walkways and roofing to limit the heat island phenomenon. Parking lots also were placed in underground spaces to maximize the green landscape area.

– Selection of sustainable building materials: building materials were selected in order to maximize the percentage contribution of end-of-life recyclable/high-recycled components and low emissions and VOC content. Great attention was paid to the geographical origin of materials, favoring the selection of materials whose raw material extraction and production sites were local.

– Supported carbon footprint calculation, providing energy consumption of the designed building

PROJECT TEAM