Environmental sustainability and ecology are among the major topics of our time. We are living in a historical moment in which there is an urgent need for a radical change in the way we inhabit the planet, and how we face the natural and built environment.

We need visions that can direct our actions towards a more informed and nature-conscious future, and it is no coincidence that the 22nd International Exhibition of the Milan Trienniale is entitled Broken Nature.

In Italy, the Klimahouse fair, which was held in Bolzano from 23 to 26 January 2019, is the main meeting place for businesses and professionals that work on the recovery and renovation of existing buildings. Care, maintenance and energy efficiency of construction processes are increasingly important issues for our cities and for the well-being of people, as demonstrated by the large public participation of the just ended edition, which counted 36,000 entries.

“We are very satisfied with the results of Klimahouse 2019, a very rich edition of events and networking moments between companies, professionals, research institutes and trade associations”, underlines the director of Fiera Bolzano Thomas Mur, "also we must highlight the increasingly international impact that Klimahouse is acquiring with the presence of delegations from Holland, Greece and Bavaria”.

The fourteenth edition of the fair saw the participation of more than 450 leading companies in this sector, and 25 startups who exhibited their avant-garde research in the Village set up in the center of Fiera Bolzano. With the theme “The Human Factor”, the initiative aims to emphasize that the core of technical research is always the living comfort and health of those who live and breathe in buildings.

The winner of the Klimahouse Startup Award was announced at the NOI Techpark, Bolzano’s technology park which, just a few hundred metres from the exhibition centre, has created the new South Tyrolean innovation district by bringing together research centres, laboratories and innovative companies.

The prize was won by a startup from Innsbruck called Tante Lotte Design, which produces acoustic panels by recycling Tyrolean sheep’s wool.

“Klimahouse Startup Award is more and more an international competition – comments Thomas Mur. – We were able to learn about very interesting products both in the renewable energy sector and in the construction world. What do we expect for next year? With the entry of 5G into the world of telecommunications, technology will increasingly move inside our homes, making the objects that populate them smarter.”

Also awarded were the winners of the ninth edition of Klimahouse Trend, the prize promoted by Fiera Bolzano and Politecnico di Milano, aimed at the most innovative Italian companies in the field of renovation and energy efficiency in buildings. The overall winner among the three categories –  Innovation, Timely and Widespread – is the Ecosism company, with its product Geniale Cappotto Sismico, a solution that combines seismic safety and thermal insulation, optimizing construction costs.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of a sector characterised by excellent capacities to innovate industrial and technological research, and to develop and distribute innovative products in the field of sustainable and energy-efficient building.