At the MART a transparent film against the greenhouse effect

The MART started early and now, rather than accelerating the ecological transition, it is fine-tuning what has already been started since 2005. The strong point of the main office of the Rovereto Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, designed by Mario Botta And Julius Andreolli and inaugurated in 2002, is now a problem: the great dome of steel and glasswhich in the architect’s intentions is “in constant dialogue with light”, however wonderful the air conditioning of the structure does not help.

The MART, as well as most of the buildings built before energy costs increased and the climate crisis forced us to consider our carbon footprint, has a serious problem in having to keep the temperature constant to safeguard the works and ensure the well-being of the visitors without spending a fortune on energy and being a source of emissions. “We are dealing with a real greenhouse effect – says the director of the Mart, Diego Ferretti – from an architectural point of view, Botta had thought of creating small domes that would allow direct lighting of the exhibition spaces, especially in the contemporary part. These structures were built in 2000 with innovative materials, which now however require other interventions. We are therefore experimenting with the laying of a film that allows the domes to be shielded so that the light is not affected but the heat and humidity are attenuated“.

The role of the Province of Trento

The MART has the good fortune to dialogue constantly with the Autonomous Province of Trento, which well before incentives and superbonus started a program for the energy efficiency of buildings. Thus, since 2005 the company SIRAM, which manages the building, had launched a study, then continued by the University of Trento, to reduce the energy needs of the museum headquarters. In 2009, the VNG studio was commissioned to develop an energy diagnosis to make the building more sustainable.

The result of the study is the improvement of the air conditioning system, which immediately guarantees both a reduction in CO emissions₂, both of sound ones, through high-efficiency and high-tech content heating and air-conditioning systems, with extensive use of renewable energies. For years, then, the MART has been committed to reduce the energy consumption of its IT equipment, which have the “EnergyStar” label, a guarantee of functions to reduce energy, ink and paper consumption. Finally, in accordance with the directives of the Autonomous Province, there is a assiduous check on lights and all electrical equipment, which must be turned off at the end of the job.

A transparent film against the greenhouse effect

It remained though the problem of the 183 skylights on the roof, about 2 thousand m² of glazed surface, and 200 m² of transparent vertical cladding surface in the office area. A kind of greenhouse, in fact, which is now shielded with a film. “The experimentation is giving excellent results – says the director – laying on a small part has allowed us to save about 400,000 kilowatt hours in a year“.

The Serisolar film, according to the manufacturer, guarantees an annual reduction of the working load of the refrigeration units of over 40%, with a reduction in energy costs and CO emissions₂ in the atmosphere. Also according to the company, the cost of the film is amortized within a maximum of 3-4 years thanks to the reduction in cooling costs; the use of air conditioning decreases from 30% to 50%.

The domes are not only a problem for the greenhouse effect, but also hinder the installation of photovoltaic panels. “Now, however, the time is ripe for evaluate in perspective the replacement of the glass of the fairings with photovoltaic glass – explains Ferretti – the yield of these materials in terms of energy production is lower, since they are not adjustable, but we are evaluating what to do. We are in contact with the GNAM of Rome, which has a similar project, to understand and verify the impact on their headquarters. Caution is a must, we don’t want to alter the building from an aesthetic point of view”.

Ferretti thus underlines another important aspect of the challenges to which museums are called, the experimentation of new materials. “The comparison with the other structures is constant – says the director – Attention to energy saving is a strategic objective for us that we would like to maintain and implement. We have already gone from a yearly consumption of 3.4 million kilowatt hours in 2005 to 1.8 in 2022. This improvement is not given by a single intervention, but by continuous studies and planning, which have followed one another over the years”.

The planning and raising of funds need dedicated personnel, which the MART does not have in-house. “We are a small structure – observes Ferretti – we have less than 50 employees available and when it comes to thinking and planning investments of this type we raise our hands and we use the professionalism of the Province of Trento. It is the Province that monitors the interventions aimed at saving and provides the resources to pay the bills, for which it verifies that consumption is under control”.

Finally, there is the commitment of MART to spread the culture of sustainability: “As a cultural body, we have always made environmental issues our own. There was often the opportunity to present the results of our interventions and savings data in public conferences – concludes Ferretti – also in this case, it is a dissemination activity that concerns the Province in general, given that it is our parent company”.