Exploiting underground geothermal energy in combination with solar energy to make Milan-Bicocca a zero-emission campus.
The plan to upgrade the energy efficiency of the university’s building stock was presented today by Rector Giovanna Iannantuoni during the inauguration of the 2022/2023 academic year. The ceremony was held this morning in the aula magna in the presence of local authorities and the academic community. The Minister of University and Research, Anna Maria Bernini, greeted those present with a speech via video link.
The blue and green regeneration project starts at U19 (Via Boschi di Stefano). A geothermal and solar renewable energy system is planned as part of the building’s renovation for environmental geological research and monitoring.
The same system will be reproduced in Piazza della Scienza. For the quadrangle around which the U1, U2, U3 and U4 buildings are located, it is estimated that the use of geothermal energy will provide an overall saving of 80% on the cost of energy for heating and cooling the premises. This area of the campus is poised to become a sustainability laboratory in which innovative solutions can be tested on a full scale and replicated in other areas of the city (read “Milan’s hidden resources”).
At the heart of the project is the construction of a system of wells for extracting geothermal energy, which, in combination with the roofing of the buildings with photovoltaic panels, will enable the gradual reduction of energy dependence on external fossil fuels. The sustainable redevelopment will be completed by walls covered with vegetation, which will improve the buildings’ thermal insulation. Following a circular approach, groundwater extracted for geothermal use can be used for the irrigation of the green walls (read “Geothermal energy for U19 and Science Square”).
“The University of Milan-Bicocca is continuing its pursuit of ecological and social sustainability,” declared Rector Giovanna Iannantuoni. “The university is ready to respond to this challenge, which has been made even more urgent by the global energy crisis, with ambitious research projects focused on environmental regeneration. Our scientists are committed to studying innovative solutions for clean energy production, not only for our campus, but also for the region. At Bicocca, we are convinced that the sustainable development of our cities is the first step towards a more inclusive society.”
As Rector Iannantuoni noted, the year we are inaugurating today is a particularly significant one. Today’s ceremony officially kicked off the university’s 25th academic year: an anniversary that will be celebrated with a rich programme of cultural and scientific initiatives planned for 2023.
The ceremony continued with a lecture by Professor Carlo Ratti, director of the Senseable City Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, entitled “Senseable cities”.
“Since their emergence around 10,000 years ago, cities have been the major drivers of innovation for mankind,” said Professor Carlo Ratti. To continue and indeed accelerate the pace of evolution, we can and must now think of ways to make our metropolises ‘Living Labs’: open-air laboratories where experimental ideas can be tested with a collaborative approach. Similarly, it will be increasingly necessary to develop projects that depart from the familiar ‘best practice’ model. We can and must think about creating ever more ‘moonshots’: campaigns to gather new, bold ideas through which we can quickly and appropriately address the challenges of the future, above all climate change.”
The guest speaker’s speech was followed by those of Luca Motto, President of the University Student Council, and Roberto Manera, representative of the Technical and Administrative Staff in the Academic Senate.
With 37,000 students, 73 degree courses, three new doctoral courses (expanding the portfolio of 19 courses in total), 303 research projects with an economic value of €160 million, and MUSA, the PNRR-funded urban regeneration project involving four Milanese universities, the event was also an opportunity to take stock of Rector Giovanna Iannantuoni’s mid-term performance.