MIT Mobile Experience Lab Teams up With Fondazione Bruno Kessler to Build First Connected, Sustainable Housing Prototype in Trento, Italy

Business Wire, Oct 29, 2008

Green tech, three year strategic alliance will impact the community and change the way residents live both inside and outside the home

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. & TRENTO, Italy -- The Mobile Experience Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has announced its partnership with Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), a research foundation which is based in the region of Trento, Italy. Promoted by the Autonomous Province of Trento, FBK will fund the development of these one of kind energy efficient homes and community.

The alliance's main goal is to research and build a sustainable connected home, with innovative renewable energy systems, sustainable architecture, social sustainability and connected information systems, to create the technology that will allow all aspects of the community to thrive.

The MIT Mobile Experience lab starts with four main areas of focus as they research, build and design this green, sustainable connected home. MIT will combine "robotic architecture" principles with advanced use of information technologies to promote sustainable architecture. The four initial principles include:

* Sustainable architecture; designing and building a sustainable home from an overall aesthetic and functional perspective within an urban setting. MIT will design vivid and specialized architecture that embodies particular sustainable principles, integrated into the landscape in an efficient and elegant way

* Green energy: utilizing natural sources of energy for the energy supply of the home such as solar panels, rainwater retention, biomass and windmills

* Green technology: studying how to use information and communication technologies in order to create a better responsive system between users, architecture and energy system

* Social sustainability: integrating the home with the inhabitant's lifestyle by also focusing on the social aspects of living within the home and the surrounding community's life and local economy

Federico Casalegno, Director of MIT Mobile Experience Lab, and of the MIT MEL FBK Alliance, said "The Autonomous Province of Trento in Italy is known for its world-renowned research centers along with its autonomy and forward-looking people. The Autonomous Province of Trento is leading the green building revolution in Italy, and because of this, its community is an ideal environment for researching and developing a connected green living community. The Fondazione Bruno Kessler is a research organization that understands the profound need for houses that are both sustainable and suitable for living, therefore creating a connected eco-friendly community. Our project takes an innovative holistic approach to green tech design and we look forward to do advanced research within the MIT MEL FBK Alliance."

Paolo Traverso, Director of the Center for Information Technology IRST from Fondazione Bruno Kessler, said "MIT Mobile Experience Lab has not only begun the research for this project but they completely understand the need for this type of complex urban, eco-friendly system. This partnership represents an extremely interesting opportunity to set up novel kinds of multidisciplinary collaborations between FBK research centers and MIT. It embodies both of MIT MEL and FBK's missions for research to enhance and achieve connected communities. Throughout the development of this project, over the next three years, we are looking forward to seeing the final prototype here in Trento which will forever impact the lives of the community."

About the MIT Mobile Experience Lab

The MIT Mobile Experience Lab focuses on creative and radical designs to recapture connections between people, information, and physical places, using cutting-edge information technology to improve peoples' lives through meaningful experiences. A multidisciplinary team, the Mobile Experience Lab researches and designs new technologies and explore their impact on spaces, communities, and society, with a strong focus on sustainable development and its implications.

The Mobile Experience Lab, Design Lab, is part of the School of Architecture and Planning at MIT.

For more information on The MIT MEL - FBK Alliance, please visit: http://mobile.mit.edu/fbk