Investing in Sustainability Creates Value

BASSANO DEL GRAPPA, Italy, March 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Climaveneta units installed at the new BNL HQ, undergoing LEED GOLD certification

Bassano del Grappa, March 2016 - BNP Paribas Real Estate is the real estate branch of the BNP Paribas banking group, a European leader in financial services, and is overseeing the construction of the new BNL, BNP Paribas Group, headquarters. The Italian bank joined BNP Paribas in 2006, and in 2010 the Group began a centralizing process of its real estate, bringing together the seven existing offices in Rome to form one unique and modern headquarters, gathering the 3,600 employees previously scattered amongst the various branches.

The deal covers a period from 2010 to the present, through a public tender for the land purchase, and a long approval process leading to the opening of the construction site in 2013.

This project is built upon a major infrastructure hub - the revamped Tiburtina train station: currently in Rome there aren't any rail services, above or below ground, which are able to provide a total transportation service. The new train station project has been signed by the architect Paolo Desideri and is part of the restoration of a whole district in central Rome. BNP Paribas Real Estate has been involved in the renovations of this territory through the construction of a road network able to serve the new development.

The building, with a total area of 75,000 square meters, has a long and narrow shape reminiscent of a ship. One part of the building has 11 floors plus a technical one which will be protected by a bulkhead-type partition acting as a roof, upon which photovoltaic panels will be installed. The other section of the building is composed of 9 floors. On the ground floor there are common areas like a cafeteria, a kindergarten and a gym; in the basement there are 400 parking spaces, while the upper floors host large open-space offices and meeting rooms.

The building was designed with a Shell & Core logic that allows for great flexibility in the interior space distribution and gives dynamism to the building. As a matter of fact it is possible to rearrange the interior space at any time, according to the tenant's requests. To this end there are no walls inside the building but only drywall, which maximizes flexibility in the management of space.

The building's envelope, designed by 5+1AA Architects, was produced by mixing two façades - a fully glazed one and a ventilated one with ceramic coated alternating windows - and will be very high performance both in terms of thermal and acoustic insulation. The construction will be completed in July 2016, when they will then proceed with the interior fittings, designed by the architect Paolo Mantero.

The building will be ready in the second half of 2016 and, thanks to green choices on architecture and M&E systems, it will become LEED GOLD certified.

"Today investing in sustainability has definitely increased both direct and indirect costs, but it is also essential to develop successful projects. BNP Paribas Real Estate believes it is necessary to invest in new technologically advanced buildings able to grant high efficiency levels, to meet the needs of investors entering the Italian market "says Giovanni Visconti, Development Manager at BNP Paribas Real Estate Property Development Italy.

Focus on HVAC 

The building is mainly glazed and therefore required adequate engineering system choices. For this reason the designers selected innovative, highly efficient and flexible systems able to respond to the needs of a Shell & Core structure, avoiding the installation of any experimental system, too dangerous considering the building's size.

Since Rome doesn't have any ground water, the most efficient HVAC system available on the market was a solution based on air to air multi-purpose INTEGRA units. They have therefore installed 4 ERACS2-Q/SL-CA 3222 with a +2P module and one ERACS2-Q/SL-CA 3222 for heating, cooling and sanitary hot water production at a very high temperature. INTEGRA units can simultaneously produce chilled and hot water by means of two independent hydronic circuits. These units are able to simultaneously satisfy the demand for hot and cold water, maximizing the energy efficiency of the whole building all year round.

Mauro Angeletti, Senior Partner at Starching, says "Sustainability has been one of the main themes in the designing of this building which is now undergoing the LEED GOLD certification, even through the respect for the most demanding regulations about renewables" and follows "We selected air to air multi-purpose heat pumps and photovoltaic panels on the roof to respect the building regulation in Rome which imposes the obligation of having at least 50% renewable sources in such large buildings."

To satisfy the summer heat peaks, which are frequent in Rome, they have also installed a FOCS2/ SL-CA 3902 chiller. This unit can also start operating in mid-season to cool the hotter areas, without turning on the multi-purpose units, thus obtaining a higher ESEER.

Climaveneta units are linked both to AHUs installed on the roof and to the 1600 4 pipe fan coils positioned throughout the building. Special care was given to the primary air mixing, which is then carried out carefully.

The whole HVAC system is managed by ClimaPRO, the plant room management and optimization solution, by Climaveneta. To maximize the energy efficiency of the building they have preferred to manage HVAC in the most precise way, rather than delegate it to the BMS system that controls the whole building.

SOURCE Climaveneta