The City of Alessandria is a 100,000 inhabitants city, in North West of Italy. AL Piano building program has already the basic financing for building construction and infrastructure innovation (social and economical actions included) and it can be regarded as an urban pilot project at the neighbourhood level. In the same district the City of Alessandria has already developed the Photovoltaic Village, just inaugurated on November 2005, that won the 1st prize of the 2003 Sustainable Cities Award promoted by the Italian Ministry for Environment.

The more comprehensive approach of Concerto AL Piano includes:

• eco-refurbishment of existing social dwellings (299 dwgs)
• new eco-village (101 dwgs) and elderly house (50 dwgs) - health centre (sport, swimming, gymn)
• diffuse energy retrofit for the buildings of the district: plan to develop energy audits for 3000 dwellings and to supply resources for energy/building retrofit of 600 dwellings of the district
• measures for green and infrastructure improvements.