The Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) recognizes the town of Cuceglio for promoting the Green Home program.

The FEE has recognized the town of Cuceglio for promoting the Green Home program, and it has awarded two residential nucleos of Damanhur, Aval and the Prima Stalla farm, for completely fulfilling the indicated parameters.

The Foundation for Environmental Education is an international non-profit, non-governmental organization, founded in Denmark and present in 46 countries on five continents.

The objective of the FEE is to promote sustainable development through environmental education, and the organization has six programs that involve public administration, hospitality structures and schools. Green Home in particular is directed toward families who intend to make their homes sustainable, making efforts to reduce waste and optimize consumption connected to everyday life.

The City of Cuceglio has sponsored Green Home, organizing a series of conferences to inform its citizens.

The community of Damanhur, which has always been sensitive to environmental themes, has created these habitations, which received the first Green Home accreditation in Piedmont, Italy.

Aval is a jewel of bio-architecture with 800 square meters of space, combining the use of traditional, organic materials with the most modern technology in construction and engineering.

Advanced technology in the area of air-conditioning and heating, as well as use of solar energy, reduce CO2 emissions and greenhouse gases to a minimum.

The entire building is enveloped by a wood fiber covering to reduce the dispersion of heat.

A thermal plant, amongst the largest in Europe, manages the winter heating and summer air-conditioning. Both heating and cooling are accomplished with radiant panels built into the floor and walls, which maximize comfort with a minimum energetic expenditure. Heat production is integrated with solar thermal panels.

Temperature is also regulated by a ventilation implant that lets air pass through underground piping. This system is able to reduce the heat in summer and warm the air during the winter, drastically reducing the energetic consumption for climate control. For changing the air, it is not necessary to open a window as it happens through aeration holes disseminated throughout the entire house. Forced ventilation is a fundamental requirement for buildings that are energy certified to receive fiscal deductions.

Much attention has been given to water management as well. Rainwater is accumulated in two underground reservoirs and is used for toilet flushing and other water usage that does not require potable water.

For electrical energy, the house has 20-kilowatt/hour solar photovoltaic panels, able to produce 2,000 kilowatts of power annually. There is a planned increase to a 60-kilowatt/hour system for the house in the near future.

The inhabitants of the house are extremely attentive to recycling and reusing, making the most of their resources. They also choose to use ecological detergents and to eat an organic diet, free of genetically modified foods.

The Green Home award has been given to the Prima Stalla farm in Cucelgio. In addition to this award, it has also been recognized by the FEE Italy, along with Aval. Prima Stalla’s bio-architecture and ecological lifestyle (organic diet, eco hygiene products, low-consumption lighting, energy-efficient household appliances, etc.) have merited these recognitions.

The Damanhurian farm was created from the necessity to centralize agricultural production with cattle-breeding, extensive grassland and forest grain cultivation, and cultivation of gardens in open fields and greenhouses.

From the many different plots of land available in the area, an uninhabited house in Cuceglio was acquired, and it was restructured and enlarged to create a modern stable with a barn capable of holding a hundred head of cattle.  

The farm was functioning by May 2007, while Piedmont cattle already occupied the stable for some months before.

The stable has about ten solar panels with a sufficient capacity to supply external illumination. The house was restructured and additions were built according to the latest criteria for ecological construction with the use of non-toxic materials, starting from the cement and bricks, to wood slabs treated with natural materials, and also the paint for the perimeter walls.

The house features a heating system with a wood-burning gas turbine and heat accumulation with a reservoir of 3,000 liters. The heating system includes floor heating at a low temperature, integrated with ten solar panels for pre-heating water.

The sanitary facilities are doubly efficient with recuperation of meteoric water to use in the sanitary basins.