The Lagacio Mountain Residence, in the small mountain town of San Cassiano in the South Tyrol is another example of contemporary chic blending seamlessly with lower impact accommodation.

Utilising locally sourced materials such as the richly scented  timber; larch, Swiss pine and spruce, the soft loden and linen fabrics and loam – the residence makes the most of its environment and also nourishes the guest
with only South Tyrolean produce.   A great idea is that the guest can pre-order a crate of local produce for their apartment before arrival – rather than loading up at the supermarket - supporting local producers.

The Climate House Agency has classified the residence as a CasaClima A, the second highest award in the scheme that evaluates the energy efficiency of buildings.   Lagacio uses fewer than 30kWh per square metre for heating, compared with 120 to 220 for a typical building in South Tyrol. Not carbon neutral, but a fine achievement in lowering impacts.

With many of the staff belonging to the local Ladin population, which has inhabited parts of the Dolomites for centuries, guests can get a truly local experience in luxury surroundings.

Often low impact or eco is associated with lower level accommodation. This residence shows that a luxurious experience doesn’t have to be energy hungry and high impact.
 
 
A new 100% solar powered residence has opened in the South Tyrol in the old village of Fistì at Pedraces.  The Residence Rosarela (www.rosarela.com) was built by Christine Dalleaste and Ulrich Foppa and has been awarded a “casa clima AAA” classification (basically the more A’s there are, the lower the energy consumption). 

Constructed mostly from local wood but using the latest techniques to minimize internal heat loss, it is of tradition design outside but power is produced by a 95m² installation of photovoltaic solar panels on the roof of the adjacent hay-loft which produces sufficient energy to cover the needs of the entire building.

Veronica adds “We often hear less about environmental developments in Italy so it is great to learn about this development which is a great combination of traditional architecture with cutting edge technology”
 
 
Doppelmayr Italy have begun work to replace the 60-70 year old cable cars on the Italian side of Mont Blanc.

The new installation is located on the Italian side of Mont Blanc and will replace the connection between Courmayeur with the Pointe Helbronner at approximately 3,500m above sea level in two new sections, replacing the former three.

The lift which feature two sets of revolving round cabins with floor to ceiling glass, each capable of holding 80 passengers and travelling at a fast 9 metres per second. Doppelmayr has already implemented this advanced technology in other famous resorts including Engelberg in Switzerland’sTitlis mountain but never before has a rotating cabin been used in such height.

Glass and steel will set architectural highlights for the station buildings and the futuristic cabins. The stations are spacious and allows for views over the impressive mountain scenery by means of observation platforms.

While building the new ropeway, special attention is being paid to efficiency and sustainability in order to keep the energy consumption as low as possible. Thus, materials with high thermal insulation capacities will be used, as well as photovoltaic installations and a heating system with heat pumps for heat recovery.  This shall approximately reach the standard of a zero-power building.

The bottom station in Pontal d'Entreves even fulfils the criteria for a so-called "active house": More energy is generated than consumed.

The lift is scheduled to be completed by in 2014.

Veronica adds “This shows how far lift technology is moving on.   Dopplemayr is one of the world’s leading lift manufacturers.   Every year they are creating lifts that are either more energy efficient than previous, run off renewables or, in this case, generating their own power.   Whilst, of course, everyone realises that a new lift is a large capital investment, and not something that can be done easily, it is good to know that technological improvements are likely to reduce enormously the consumption and therefore impact of the lift.”
 
 
The Presena Glacier above Passo Tonale is the latest Alpine glacier to attempt to cover its surface with an insulating and reflective ‘blanket’ this summer in a bid to slow its rate of melting.

More than 90,000 square metres of the glacier, has been covered with a thin reflective material, a process already being used my glaciers in Austria such as Pitztal and Stubai, and in Switzerland and on Germany’s Zugspitze which ended summer snow sports a few years ago. In France snowmaking has been tried on the glacier at Val d’Isere, which is one of three glaciers in the country still open for summer snow sports.

Small scale tests of the material used on the Presena glacier have shown that it reduces melt rates by up to 60%, potentially good news for the glacier which a study found lost nearly two-fifths of its mass in one decade alone up to 2003 due to global warming.

Veronica Tonge comments “It’s an interesting idea to cover a part of a glacier to protect it during the summer and previous studies in Verbier have shown that covers can make an enormous difference.   It demonstrates that resorts are investigating a myriad of options to protect their winter ski industry due to its value to the local economy.  Covering glaciers is never ultimately going to be the answer and resorts need to look at diversification and offering a range of activities to reduce their overall reliance on downhill skiing - one strategy is to boost summer tourism (incidentally those resorts that open their lifts for summer tourism to view the glaciers need to consider - no-one wants to look at a large ‘tarpaulin’. "