iLab
Building description
| Name | iLab |
| Location | Bergamo - Italy |
| Building Owner | Italcementi |
| Partner | eERG-PoliMI |
| Type of building | offices and research laboratories |
| Use type | offices and research laboratories |
The Building
Situated at the eastern end of the Kilometro Rosso Scientific Technology Park in Stezzano (Bergamo, Italy), the Italcementi Centre for Research and Innovation (i.Lab) is the iconic building designed by the American architect Richard Meier. The building is “V”-shaped in plan and it accommodates a laboratories building in a wing and an administrative office building in the other; a central atrium, sited in the centre of the two wings, contains a public reception, a security control and provides a circulation space for both wings of the i.Lab. Also meeting rooms and a pleasant conference hall which can receive up to 240 persons are situated there. The building benefits from a high insulated envelope. The flat concrete roof has an important exposed thermal mass that ensures a large inertial behaviour. The roof is perforated with skylights which direct natural light into the offices of the second upper ground level, atrium, conference room, board room and circulation corridors. The building has five floors (two floors above the ground level and 3 floors below the ground). It is in operation since the year 2012.
The building is LEED - Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design - certified at Platinum best level and it has been awarded in the framework of EU Commission programme GreenBuilding.
Quality Management
A detailed building management and monitoring system is installed for the control of the whole building and its systems. The system was developed by Modultronic. Measured values can be exported in text files (csv format).
| Building owner: | Italcementi | |
| Facility Management: | Italcementi | |
| TMon/ Cx | Italcementi and eERG-PoliMi |
During the start-up phase, various inspections were arranged to measure and test the functionality of the air-conditioning, cooling and heating systems. Additionally, on-site visits were arranged to determine the quality of execution in reference to the configuration of hydraulics for the air-conditioning, cooling and heating systems. During the trial operation – carried out before the official hand-over – the data of the building automation was recorded for two weeks. Inspections are now taking place in semi-annual cycles to examine the performance in the first years of operation and to evaluate the weather-related system status.
Building’s technical equipment
| System/type | Power, source/fuel type, size, circuits … | Selected for QM-process | |
| Heating | Gas condensing boilers + electrical ground-to-water heat pumps (with 51 borehole heat exchangers) | Heat is distributed via the following circuits / devices
| Yes |
| Hot water preparation | Gas condensing boilers + solar thermal system + water storage tank: on the roof, flat solar thermal panels are installed, with tilt of 45°. | The solar thermal system has been designed to cover the 60 % of the yearly energy demand for domestic hot water preparation. | Yes |
| Cooling | Chillers + electrical geothermal heat pumps (ground-to-water) | Electrical | Yes |
| Air handling units | The installed AHU have sensible heat recovery units, heating / cooling coils and post-heating coils. Inlet fresh air flow rates from some of them can be controlled also thanks to CO2 sensors installed for each of them. Toilets and warehouse has separated exhaust ventilation systems. | Electrical | |
| Cold source | Chillers + electrical geothermal heat pumps (ground-to-water) | Electrical | No |
| Lighting | Indoor and outdoor artificial lighting is provided by fluorescent lamps (for 90% of the floor surface) and by metal halide lamps (for 10%). The artificial lighting system can be automatically switched off during night and in general according defined schedules. Rooms on the 2nd floor, with skylights (about the 19 % of the floor area), and facing to outdoor spaces have lighting sensors and automatic control, which can dim the lamps according control logics. In addition, rooms, corresponding about to the 40% of the total floor area, are equipped with occupancy sensors, which can switch on / off the lighting equipment. | Electrical | No |
| Electrical supply | Power grid and photovoltaic panels | PV: 420 panels (98 kWp). Annual production of about 96.000 kWh | No |
Energy Performance (Evaluation of Savings)
| Energy | Carbon | |||
| Baseline (kWh/a) | Savings (kWh/a) | % | Savings (kg/a) | |
| Heating Energy | ||||
| Cooling Energy | ||||
| Electricity | ||||
Operational Performance
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