GENERAL INFORMATION RENOVATION PROCESS RETROFIT SOLUTIONS EVALUATION

Rebecco Farm

25060

Brescia, Italy

Architect

Arch. Barbara Scala

via Enrico Fermi, 7 - Salò

barbarascala@gmail.com

Owner

Pea Maria Angela

Via Don O. Piotti 15 - 25060 Pezzaze (BS)

User

"Rebecco farmer rete di imprese" Cooperative

Contact Details

Alessia Buda

Politecnico di Milano

alessia.buda@polimi.it

Other Information

‘Rebecco Farm’ project is part of the “Resilient Valleys” program, carried out as part of the Cariplo Foundation’s “AttivAree” project and the Mountain Community of Valle Trompia, aimed to give new life to the area of the high valleys Trompia and Sabbia (Brescia, Italy) by enhancing their cultural, historical and environmental potential. From an architectural point of view, the complex consists in two stone-walls buildings, in a state of abandonment and partially collapsed, with a covered area of about 300 square meters. Building A was used as a stable for recovering animals and agricultural furnitures, Building B was the main house where owners lived. Given its strategic position, the rural complex of ‘Rebecco Farm’ has been retrofitted to house a bed and breakfast (in Building A) and an educational service (in Building B), for training and aggregation activities linked to the territory agricultural knowledge.

GENERAL INFORMATION RENOVATION PROCESS RETROFIT SOLUTIONS EVALUATION

Energy performance

89,27 kWh/m2.y

Climate Zone E

Altitude 500 m a.s.l.

HDD 2410

CDD 266

Protection level Not listed

Conservation Area:
Yes

Level of Protection:
A landscape restriction

Building age before 1600

Year of last renovation:
1980

Year of previous renovation:
1800

Building use B&B - Farm

Secondary use:
Residential (rural)

Building occupancy:
Permanently occupied

Building area Net floor area [m²]: 318,0

Building typology:
Detached house + Semidetached construction

Number of floors:
2

Basement yes/no:
Yes

Number of heated floors:
2

Gross floor area [m²]:
0,0

Volume [m³]:
2300,0

NFA calculation method:
Useful area (it)

Construction type

Stone masonry wall

External finish:
Exposed stonework

Internal finish:
Exposed stonework

Roof type:
Pitched roof

+ MORE - LESS

RENOVATION PROCESS

Architecture

BUILDING DESCRIPTION

The Building A is the result of the reconversion from charcoal kilns to agricultural architecture. The building is actually composed by three rooms, two of which have no roof and the third, larger in width, reused as a stable on the ground floor and as barn on the first floor. The masonry is made by megalithic rocks (used for the foundations) and smaller pebbles collected directly from the river Mella, lying near the building site. On the internal perimeter masonry, we can observe the holes of partially lost beams, while upstairs large plugged openings are visible, probably used to unload coal from above but not useful, with that width, to bring hay inside the room. The internal pavement, when present, is also in pebbles. The pitch of the roof (present only over one of the rooms), covered in terracotta, shows consistent inclination. The Building B is an isolated farmhouse on two floors facing the valley in order to gain exposure to the sun. The ground floor is divided into three rooms: a full height room, housing the fireplace for processing milk and the beams on which the cheese wheels were placed for aging; two smaller rooms, obtained from a subdivision of the main space with lighweight wooden walls, construction technique widespread in the valley. Under the ground floor is located the basement, used as stable, with a very low-height wooden ceiling. The masonry is in local stone (Carniola di Bovegno) of medium size. Only in the basement room do the walls show boulders of important dimensions. The external façade is characterized by small windows and trapezoidal openings near the roof eave line, used to ventilate the attic where the hay was stored. Doors are made of wooden lintels, while windows are with wooden or metalic fixed frame and wooden sashes. The ceiling and roof structure have a main and secondary beam levels made of wood, above which are laid axes and rafters made from branches of modest size.

Urban context

Rebecco is a small village located in the Trompia Valley, in the Brescian Prealps.

State of repair

Conditions of the envelope

The two buildings were in a state of abandonment. In both buildings, stone walls presented additions of cement mortar for joining fallen stones and pebbles. While the roof has been deformed by weight in Building B, in Building A, the roof was partially collapsed. The floor, in pebbles, was not more existing in the majority of the two buildings. Windows were present only in Building B: some were with metal fixed frame and single glass, others with wooden frame and single glass. All were in bad state of conservation, including the internal wooden shading panels.

Description of pre-intervention building services

A wood fireplace was the only heating system inside the building. In addition to that, users adopted the basement to host animals (as a recovery), bringing heat to the upper floor naturally for convection. More recently, an additional movable electric heater was used by last owners.

HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE

ELEMENTS WORTHY OF PRESERVATION

As main criteria of the retrofit planning, it was considered important to not alter the building masonry and the complex composition, according to the landscape restriction of the site. It was decided leaving the stonework of walls as it was (adding just a plaster to protect it from the external environement), and to not change the roof shape (preserving the typical trapezoidal roof openings and the chimney), for respecting as much as possible the constructive tradition of the Valley. Another important criterion was to respect all the elements considered memory of the past agricultural use of the complex (as the fireplace in Building B, the basement for recovering animals, the external cellar to store the food, the side loggia, the cistern for collecting water, etc.). The light wall partitions with wooden structure (typical of the local constructive tradition) has been detached and preserved inside the building. Other details (wooden lintel of the external openings, the hardware of the doors) have been evaluated important to be maintained.

Heritage Value Assesment

The two buildings are the expression/result of a previous conversion of use, following the crisis that affected the Valtrumplino territory in the first half of the XIX Century, when the transformation of iron ore – of which the valley is very rich – was subject to innovations that were not acquired in all the peripheral centres of the valley. Rebecco Farm was born on the 16th century floor of an old smelting furnace, of which charcoal kilns and underground rooms for the storage of ‘loppe’ (iron ore processing products) are still preserved in the basement. The charcoal kilns, despite being largely lost, are the largest body: today three rooms are preserved, two of which have no roof and the third, larger in width, was reused as a stable on the ground floor and as barn on the first floor. Of the other charcoal bunkers identified in the cadastral map of 1898, no traces of walls have been found, even during excavations. In the reconversion from industrial to agricultural architecture, the planimetric survey, the masonry and the trend of the with its consistent inclination had been preserved. On the internal perimeter masonry, we can observe the holes of partially lost beams, while upstairs large plugged openings are visible, probably used to unload coal from above but not useful, with that width, to bring hay inside the room.

Aim of retrofit

Renovation + Extension

The project, within the Valli Resilienti project, funded by the Cariplo Foundation's Intersectoral ActivAree Program, envisaged an architectural and functional recovery of Rebecco Farm to make it a "Valorisation and Development Center for the Rural Culture of the Territory". The retrofit project began with the investment on the physical and architectural recovery of the two main buildings, the regeneration of the agricultural context through a community participatory process for the management of the entire complex.

Was there any change of use?

The management is entrusted to a group of cooperatives-companies operating in agriculture, training and culture. So, the building has been changed to host a B&B, a farm educational area for practical workshops for producing local food, and a meeting area for students. The site is subject to a landscape restriction, so in the elaboration of the project a discussion was carried out with the Superintendence of Brescia, with whom it was agreed to extend the structures on the site of the volumes inferable from the historical cadastre, to meet the needs of future use.

Was the intervention planned following a step-by-step approach?

The decision-making process was coordinated with the various figures: private foundation, heritage authorities, designers, energy experts, local community. The exploratory tools used were interviews and focus groups, with the aim of deepening the dialogue, engaging the community and exploring territorial assets and has involved more than twenty realities in the retrofit planning.

Lessons learned

Public-private partnership, together with the experts' vision of the retrofit was a winning strategy: it made possible to combine solutions in a well-calibrated system of activities, with a long-term vision of the building management. The participation of some farms, trainers, small local - and extra-local innovators - has been very good for defining the functions and the needs of the building.

Stakeholders Involvement

Public sector
Comunità Montana Valle Trompia
via Matteotti 327 - Gardone Val Trompia

Private Sector
Fondazione Cariplo
via Manin, 23 - Milano

Research Development
Università di Brescia
via Branze, 43 -Brescia

Architect
Arch. Barbara Scala
via Enrico Fermi, 7 - Salò
barbarascala@gmail.com

Energy Consultant
Arch. Alessia Buda
Piazza Aspromonte, 45 - Milano
arch.alessiabuda@gmail.com

Structural Engineer
Ing. Nicola Archetti
VIA PADULE, 55 OSPITALETTO BS

Services Engineer
ZH Srl Spinoff Politecnico di Milano
Via Ariberto 20, 20123 - Milano

Tools used

Was the renovation process done following a specific methodology? EN 16883:2017

Energy calculation EnergyPlus

Scala article Rebecco.pdf

RETROFIT SOLUTIONS

External Walls

Internal insulation with hemp lime bricks and lime-hemp plaster

Integrated wall in wooden fiber panel, hemp lime bricks and lime-hemp plaster

Integrated new wall with wooden fiber panels, bricks, external ventilated wooden cladding

Insulation with reed panel and lime-hemp plaster

Internal insulation with hemp lime bricks and lime-hemp plaster

In Building B, an energy insulation solution, inspired by tradition but reinvented in a modern key have been provided, using natural fibres (hemp lime bricks) obtained from the agricultural chain.

From a conservative point of view, the choices made have respected a traditional use of the materials also in the technological solutions introduced, which provides a physical and practical demonstration of the possibility to operate in a respectful way in rural architecture. The insulation has reduced the internal space of the rooms, but it is not directly in contact with the existing wall, so to be removable.

U-value (pre-intervention) [W/m2K]: 1,86 W/m²K U-value (post-intervention) [W/m2K]: 0,14 W/m²K

More Details

Original wall build-up

Plaster - Gypsum+Cement Plaster (not regular):
25 mm

Stone - Carniola di Bovegno:
600 mm

Plaster - Gypsum Plaster:
25 mm

Retrofitted wall build-up

Stone - Carniola di Bovegno:
600mm

Air gap - Not ventilated air gap:
10 mm

Insulation - Hemp bricks:
120 mm

Plaster - Hemp plaster:
25 mm

Integrated wall in wooden fiber panel, hemp lime bricks and lime-hemp plaster

In Building At has been realized an integration with a wooden fiber panel and hemp lime bricks.

The internal spaces are not compromised by the added insulation as it is placed at a certain distance from the existing wall.

U-value (pre-intervention) [W/m2K]: 1,45 W/m²K U-value (post-intervention) [W/m2K]: 0,1 W/m²K

More Details

Original wall build-up

Stone - Carniola di Bovegno:
650 mm

Other - No :
0 mm

Retrofitted wall build-up

Stone - Carniola di Bovegno:
650mm

Air gap - Not ventilated air gap:
10 mm

Insulation - Hemp bricks:
120 mm

Insulation - Hemp block:
120 mm

Plaster - Lime-Hemp plaster:
25 mm

Integrated new wall with wooden fiber panels, bricks, external ventilated wooden cladding

This wall type has been used to integrate the existing fallen walls in Building A.

This stratigraphy has been designed to make it harmoniously integrated with the building complex with wood claddings laid in the same way as those used traditionally in the farmsteads of the Valley.

U-value (pre-intervention) [W/m2K]: 0,0 W/m²K U-value (post-intervention) [W/m2K]: 0,24 W/m²K

More Details

Original wall build-up

Other - Missing wall part:
0 mm

Other - No internal finishing:
0 mm

Retrofitted wall build-up

Wood panelling - Wood panel (ventilated wall system):

Brick - Clay bricks:
240 mm

Insulation - Wooden fiber panel:
50 mm

Dry-lining - Plasterboard:
25 mm

Insulation with reed panel and lime-hemp plaster

Internal insulation is added to the north wall in building B, inspired by tradition but reinvented in a modern key have been provided, using natural fibres (hemp lime plaster and reeds panel) obtained from the agricultural chain.

U-value (pre-intervention) [W/m2K]: 1,9 W/m²K U-value (post-intervention) [W/m2K]: 0,54 W/m²K

More Details

Original wall build-up

Plaster - Gypsum+Cement Plaster (not regular):
25 mm

Stone - Carniola di Bovegno:
610 mm

Plaster - Gypsum plaster:
25 mm

Retrofitted wall build-up

Stone - Carniola di Bovegno:
610mm

Air gap - Not ventilated air gap:
10 mm

Insulation - Reed insulating panel:
50 mm

Plaster - Lime-hemp plaster:
25 mm

Windows

Wooden window with double glass

Internal wooden window with double glass

Wooden window with double glass

This window substitute the existing movable frames in soft iron, with single (broken) glasses, opening to the internal space.

The existing window has been substituted due to the bad conditions of both frame and glasses that were compromising the building conservation (i.e. lack of airtightness, water infiltrations, creation of mould). The external fixed soft iron grid has been maintained, to not alter the external façade.

Existing window U-value Glass [W/m2K]: 5,88 New window U-value Glass[W/m2K]: 1,4 Existing window U-value Frame [W/m2K]: 2,8 New window U-value Frame [W/m2K]: 1,6

More Details

Existing window type	Casement window
Existing glazing type	Single
Existing shading type	Inner shutter
Approximate installation year	1880

New window type	Casement window
New glazing type	Double
New shading type	Inner shutter
New window solar factor g [-]	0,56

Internal wooden window with double glass

The new window has been placed on the internal side of the opening frame. The external existing wooden window has been restored, restoring and preserving also the external fixed iron grid.

The new window has been placed inside (as double window), to not alter the external façade appearance and to improve the energy performance of this opening.

Existing window U-value Glass [W/m2K]: 5,88 New window U-value Glass[W/m2K]: 1,4 Existing window U-value Frame [W/m2K]: 2,25 New window U-value Frame [W/m2K]: 1,5

More Details

Existing window type	Casement window
Existing glazing type	Single
Existing shading type	Inner shutter
Approximate installation year	1800

New window type	Casement window
New glazing type	Double
New shading type	Inner shutter
New window solar factor g [-]	0,56

Other interventions

ROOF

The roof in Building B has been completely rebuilt, because the existing one had wooden beams in a state of rotting and unrecoverable. In Building A, the roof was partially in bad conditions of conservation and was partially missing, so it has been rebuilt totally.

In both buildings the roof was in bad conservation conditions (and partially missing): the replacement was necessary to use the building actively today. The shape and the materials used were those of local tradition, with the addition of an wood wool insulation panel.

U-value (pre-intervention) [W/m2K] 0,52 U-value (post-intervention) [W/m2K] 0,17

More Details

Original roof build-up

Tiles - Terracotta roof tiles:
50 mm

Other - Wooden beams:
250 mm

Other - Wooden floor:
50 mm

Other - Lime mortar:
25 mm

Retrofitted roof build-up

Tiles - New Terracotta roof tiles:
50 mm

Other - non-woven fabric:
2 mm

Other - Wooden panelling:
20 mm

Other - Wooden insulating panel:
160 mm

Other - Wooden beam:
160 mm

HVAC

HEATING

Heating is guaranteed by a wood fire boiler located in the basement of Building B, which covers the whole complex.

The wood fire boiler is located in a secondary space (basement) - avoiding the impact on space - and connected to serve the entire complex with channels lying undersoil. Ventilation grids are placed at the floor level. The exausting air channel for the outlet of burning emissions is placed along the façade, similar to a gutter tube, without altering the visual impact of the building and being recognizable and reversible. The low impact of this solution is also in the choice of wood as fuel: this originated from the discussion between the future managers, who evaluated the abundance of wood harvested by cleaning the woods and undergrowth of the valley.

More Details

	New primary heating system
New system type	Boiler
Fuel	Biomass
Distribuition system	Air
Nominal power	32 kW

RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS

Biomass

Heating is guaranteed by a wood fire boiler located in the basement of Building B, which covers the whole complex.

More Details

	Biomass System
Type	Pellet
Storage size
Origin of biomass
Overall yearly production	kWh

Energy Efficiency

Energy Performance

Energy performance certificate: CENED+ Lombardia Certificated class: G
Voluntary certificates: No

Energy Use

Consumption_estimation_After: 89,27 kWh/m2.y

Primary Energy
Consumption_estimation_Calculation_method: Dynamic simulation (e.g. EnergyPlus)
Consumption_estimation_Including_DHW: Yes

Costs

Financial Aspects

The Rebecco Farm is included within the 'AttivAree Program', financed by the Cariplo Foundation (Banking Foundation), with the aim to act in fragile territorial areas which present situations of abandonment and discomfort for the few remaining residents.

Investment Costs

Total investment costs
712.500 (total)
Amount includes: 550,000 are destined for the works, 11,000 are destined for the accompanying activities of the participatory planning and its communication, 70,000 are intended for the operation of the three-year start-up of the management of the Center, 12,500 for development supervision design

Running Costs

Lifecycle cost
No

Environment

Water Management

Rainwater recovery in a storage tank, placed in the basement of Building B, to be used for irrigation purpose.