Tradition and innovation: nZEB hi-tech houses. A case study in Matera (Italy)

This work presents a project of hi-tech and supergreen `nZEB casale' in Italy. The `nZEB casale' is located in Matera, in the south of Italy. The project concerns the renovation of a medieval `casale', a group of rural houses for residential use. The shape of the new nZEB is in the style of old light-colored buildings, compact and with projections and shielding elements to reduce the summer thermal loads. The use of local and certified materials for the construction of buildings has resulted in a low environmental impact of buildings and an excellent winter and summer energy performance reaching the best energy class A4. Finally, this work presents an environmental protocol to be applied to nZEBs in order to take into account the other benefits of these constructions, as well as the energy benefits.