Progetto Manifattura

The renovated existing factory buildings hosts different companies, startups, research centers on bioinformatics, medical sciences, sport and environmental issues, and spaces for the University of Trento and the University of Verona. The spaces created with the new buildings of the Be Factory are allocated to industrial production and laboratories for innovation companies, and a smaller section hosting restaurant, museum, gym, and training center. The site hosts also 700 car parking spots for employees and visitors, as well as a station for car-sharing vehicles. In addition, part of the surface is dedicated to open spaces, green areas, pedestrian paths and bicycle lanes.

The main economic impact brought by the regeneration initiative is the creation of a new innovation district focused on environmental and sustainability-related topics. The renovated area hosts around 80 companies and public and private research centers targeting innovative technologies. The new district hosts 40 local companies from the Trentino region, thus significantly fostering regional development and supporting local businesses. The project focuses on attracting innovation and technology-related firms, such as building and engineering companies, private and universities research centers, university departments and experimental laboratories. In addition, the initiative provides support to local businesses, innovation companies and green startups by creating a collaborative environment, equipped with productive spaces, laboratories and testbeds to grow their business and develop technological solutions. The project provides fully equipped laboratories and working spaces to better serve innovation and technology firms. In total, the project and the hosted companies employ around 600 workers.

As a green innovation district, the initiative focuses on renovating and creating a sustainable district, reducing both emissions and energy consumption. Firstly, the construction of new buildings and the renovation of the existing industrial complex employed low-emission materials and innovative construction technologies to reduce the emission during the construction works. In addition, half of new buildings are constructed to be carbon neutral. To reduce emissions, the district employs a new energy production system by installing a trigeneration plant to serve the entire site and connected to the district heating network. The district heating is managed by Habitech. The newly built plant has yearly production levels of 6,400 MWh for thermal energy, 270 MWh for cooling energy and 4,200 MWh for electricity. The production of energy for heating comes from biomass Combined Heat & Power plants (80%), heat pumps (10%) and from high-efficiency gas boiler (10%). The 58% of the production of electricity comes from renewable resources, with 20% coming from hydroelectric and 38% from biomass. The energy production for cooling systems comes from biomass Combined Heat & Power plants (60%), heat pumps (25%), and electric chillers (15%). Lastly, the initiative also installed solar photovoltaic panels to recharge electric car vehicles with an installed power of 730 kW. The initiative achieved a great reduction in energy demand from both existing and new buildings. All the new buildings of the Be Factory are certified with energy class A, while the renovated buildings have been renewed to achieve a minimum energy class of C/D. In total, the project achieved the reduction of 70% of the primary energy demand from non-renewable sources, while 52% of the peak power needed are covered by energy from renewable sources. The energy improvement of both the existing and new buildings brought a significant reduction in greenhouse gases emissions. During the operational phase, emissions will be reduced by 70% in buildings, transportation and infrastructures compared to business-as-usual standards. In addition, the demolition, construction, renovation and waste management processes will reduce emissions by 20% in relation to business-as-usual standards. The reduction of emissions is calculated with business-as-usual standards, which are calculated from National legislations on energy requirements and from the estimated energy consumption of the existing buildings at pre-intervention stage. In addition, the new production of electricity and thermal energy reduced CO2 emissions by 80% and 85%, respectively. Sustainability is also achieved through food production. The cafeteria and restaurant present in the area will locally produce their own food or serve from suppliers within a range of 100 km to reduce food transportation and support local producers. The new water management system has been improved, with the collection and reuse of rainwater and wastewater that will satisfy 28% and 29% of the water demand of the entire complex. Lastly, to ensure natural and open spaces for visitors and employees, the site has been covered with 28,000 sqm of green areas.

The renovation project has a clear objective in fostering and promoting sustainable mobility options among the project employees and visitors. The renovation will significantly improve the existing transportation options serving the area. Initially, the initiative will create a new bicycle line connected to the existing one that will cross the entire redevelopment area. In addition, the project will provide several bike sharing options spread on the existing bicycle paths. To further improve sustainable mobility, the initiative provides a low-emission shuttle service which connects the project with the central station. Together with this solution, the initiative created a car-sharing service for both employees and visitors and a low-emissions car fleet available to use for the companies residing on the site. Lastly, Trentino Sviluppo provided several incentives and discounts on sustainable mobility options, such as discounts on public transportation subscriptions, bonuses for bicycle purchases, and monetary and non-monetary incentives to use car-sharing options. These incentives are directed towards both employees and visitors of Progetto Manifattura. Besides mobility, the project includes a nursery school to serve the employees of different companies.

The new buildings of the Be Factory achieved the Gold level certification of the LEED BD+C New Construction v4, which set environmental criteria for newly constructed buildings and major renovations, and the ARCA Silver Certification level for the wooden buildings of the Be Factory. 

The redevelopment of the tobacco factory has been entirely funded by the National Government of Italy, the Provincial Government of Trento and the European Union. The total costs of the initiative amounted to around USD 110 million, employed by the Provincial Government of Trento to acquire the site, renovate the existing buildings and develop the new spaces. The Development and Cohesion Fund, managed by the National Government of Italy, provided USD 96 million (80%). The remaining costs has been funded by the European Regional Development Fund.

The Provincial Government of Trento financed the acquisition of the factory site and the public company Manifattura Domani employing resources from the Development and Cohesion Fund, managed by the National Government of Italy and from the European Regional Development Fund. The Municipality of Rovereto adopted a variation of the land use of the site, modifying the previous historical buildings status through a variation in the General Regulatory Plan of the Municipality. The instruments increased the land value of the site and allowed the establishment of companies, research centers and laboratories.

U.S. Green Building Council. Progetto Manifattura Ambito B – Lotto 1. Accessed on 04/07/2024. Available here.

Progetto Manifattura (2021). Be Factory ottiene la certificazione ARCA Silver. Accessed on 04/07/2024. Available here.

Image from Trentino Sviluppo, retrieved here.