Climate change and the need to protect the planet are forcing us to change our behaviour patterns. A newly emerging holistic and multidisciplinary approach to design combines the advantages of technology with solutions that have been developed by mankind over the millennia in response to the challenges of nature. The much discussed “paradigm shift” requires us to abandon the global conventions of international style, the certainties of concrete, steel and glass, and instead reflect on the lifetime of a building, on the relationship that it establishes with its surroundings, and on the way it is used by the people who live there. What is needed is an intelligent use of resources and a careful choice of materials and construction systems. Technology can help us determine the feasibility, functioning and sustainability of a project in advance. In particular, a free program called EnergyPlus can be used to perform advanced energy simulation of a building and ensure long-term comfort and quality, thereby paving the way for an entirely new approach to design.

From: the Press Cafés of Cersaie 2019
ABITARE Café
The technology of change
Using free software to model the future of a building

with Gian Carlo Magnoli Bocchi, Magnoli & Partners
Stefano Rugginenti, Politecnico di Milano
moderated by Silvia Botti, Abitare

 

Watch the other Cersaie 2019 Press Café.

March 2020