New Building Typologies for Zero Energy Mass Custom Housing (ZEMCH) in More Sustainable Patterns of Development

Conferences and publications on Smart Cities and self-styled ecological buildings such as “Vertical Forests”, “Biophilic” building complexes and other similar are multiplying. But then, in reality, we continue to design as we have always done for the last ninety years: with the consolidated rules and formal solutions of international post-modern composition, in its various forms. The only attentions are (and not always) to super-insulate the envelopes, arrange photovoltaic panels on the roofs, make the systems smart and cover the facades and roofs with appropriate green washing. Even in the awareness that human settlements and cities are extremely complex phenomena, mostly determined by economic and social factors, rather than by conscious typological-settlement choices, perhaps the time has come to acknowledge that the traditional paradigms of design must be changed. First of all, the types of settlements must be renewed, because it is through their optimization that the greatest savings in terms of energy and sustainability can be achieved. The research presented here is the application of a ten-year study that involved the development of net Zero Energy Mass Custom Housing (ZEMCH) in specific context in southern Italy. The Innovation and Transparency of Tenders Environmental Compatibility (ITACA) Assessment Protocol, derived from the Green Building Challenge’s GBTool, was used as a design guide, which is normally used for the assessment and judgment of sustainability at the building scale and not of the urban design. The result is a settlement model in which network of pedestrian, cycle and public transport is fully integrated with adjacent urban areas; effective landscaping connects public and private green and kitchen-gardens/orchards everywhere; buildings are made with new semi-underground typologies; net ZEMCHs are made with local, recyclable materials with low impact or positive energy balance; wastewater and rainwater are collected, in-loco phyto-purified and reused; renewable energies (sun, earth, wind) satisfy remaining necessities, with a minimum of plant interventions.