The intervention, as a whole, aims to adopt the European resolutions for an enviro-sustainable development, promoting the practice of a building culture aiming to protect the environment, the compatibility of the energy cycles of the eco-system and implementing the principles of the bio ecological technology.
The general target is, thus, to promote and spread bio architecture as a new environmental approach to the living problem, since it reduces the environmental impact and the energy costs of the construction sector.
The specific goal is to check the problems connected to the costs involved in application of such techniques, in the refurbished and in the new building, by analysing the results obtained from the point of view of the environmental qualities achieved. The school building, part of the EDERA project, is particularly fit for functional re-use according to the standards of bio-ecological architecture, because of it’s specific logistic position in good environmental quality area, near to the Stura stream and near some facilities, such as, the municipal sports field, some playgrounds and next to the local train station. In the area there, also, some public structures used for exhibitions (Expo Vallestura) and a distance-learning centre (Telecentro).
This school structure has always been, for the local community, an important reference point since it is a public space where students, teachers and families meet dedicated to develop the children’s knowledge and expressivity.
The re-qualification intervention has been immediately supported and shared by the residents, and seen as the possibility to regain possession of a shared public area re-evaluated by the bio-ecological renewal carried out.
With the present project, the Municipality of Rossiglione has been recognised as “excellent case” among the Liguria Local Authorities in the field of environmental management and received a special mention at the award ” Cities for sustainable construction”, aimed to the public administrations that have carried out works, rules and actions for sustainable constructions, assigned by Friuli Venezia Giulia Region during the BIO CASA event at the exposition centre in Trieste, with the sponsorship of ITACA, Institute for the Transparency, Updating and Certification of the contracts and of the Conference of the Region Governors.
ITACA, to which the project Liguria Region belongs, has developed a Protocol approved by the Conference of the Region Governors for energy and environmental certification of the buildings. It consists of a list of requirements and needs for the environmental compatibility, by means of which it has been possible to carry out checks on the entire school compound, object of the experimentation.
In the costs/benefits evaluation of the pilot project, the procedure of Life Cycle Impact Assessment has been experimentally implemented to evaluate the impacts and the avoided external costs in the building /refurbishing and in the operating phases of the school building.

The Abraham building with 23 study rooms, extra facilities for the students and an administration wing of Linacre College won the “green building of the year award”. Expected reductions were: 25% on gas use, 25% on electricity use, 36% on water consumption and 31% on CO2 emission. Energy saving measures are: high thermal mass, high insulation, heat recovery and passive stack ventilation. Extra costs are around 3.6%.