GEE-Global Elevator Exhibition, the new project dedicated to horizontal and vertical mobility, Me-Made Expo, the leading international event for innovative and sustainable solutions for buildings and enclosures, SBE-Smart Building Expo, Italy's reference event for home and building automation and technological integration, and Sicurezza, Italy's leading event and one of the most important in Europe for security and fire protection.

The figures are impressive: 8 pavilions, more than 1250 companies from 41 countries, with most of them coming from Italy, Germany, Spain, France and China. An event that will attract to Milan tens of thousands of trade operators, in addition to the 420 hosted buyers from 74 countries, coming from the 5 continents, highly profiled and selected by Fiera Milano in collaboration with ICE-ITA Agency (the Italian Trade Commission). The largest delegations will come from the United States, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Georgia,

"Milan International Building Alliance has reached and exceeded the numerical target we set, but it is above all a successful project in terms of the power it represents", says Simona Greco, Fiera Milano's Global Exhibitions Director. "In a world where markets and professionals are increasingly called upon to interact and communicate with a shared design approach, we have also chosen to participate in this evolution, contributing to the development of positive synergies; the leading Italian and international companies that have chosen to be present, sharing MIBA's philosophy and goals, are proof of how central the project is”.

The scenario: changing buildings and cities
The building sector plays a major role in the energy transition and sustainable evolution of our cities, if we consider that, within the European Union, 40 percent of the polluting emissions, 50 percent of the extraction of raw materials, 40-50 percent of the total energy consumption, 30 percent of water consumption and 30 percent of waste production are linked to buildings. Moreover, in Italy as in Europe, 35 percent of buildings are more than 50 years old, almost 75 percent are energetically inefficient and only 1 percent of buildings are renewed every year.

According to data compiled by Politecnico di Milano, the drivers of development in the construction sector - a key sector for the economy, which currently generates around 9 percent of Europe's GDP and accounts for 18 million direct jobs - will be investments aimed at fostering green development and achieving the goal of Zero Emissions Building. SMEs in particular will benefit considerably from the strengthening of the renovation market, since they contribute more than 70 percent of the added value of the EU construction sector.

Starting from a stock of about 30 billion square metres, the European building stock is estimated to increase by about 50% by 2050, while about 5 billion square metres will be demolished to make room for new developments.

Nevertheless, the big challenge is the renovation market, which will benefit from the energy retrofit market. In this area, the current volume of business is estimated at around €120 billion/year, but, thanks to the implemented strategies, it is expected to increase considerably over the next few years to an estimated €275 billion/year.

MIBA-Milan International Building Alliance is part of this process, which with its cross-sectoral offer will provide an all-round overview of the technologies, processes, solutions, materials and products involved in creating low environmental impact, smart, safe and accessible buildings and cities.

The central role of skills
More than 250 scheduled conferences and events will offer a unique training opportunity for professionals visiting the exhibition. Conferences, seminars and workshops will address the most important topics for the sectors in question, divided along three lines: sustainability, innovation and regulations.

The Building Innovation Forum dedicated to the future of cities through innovation, quality of life, sustainability and public-private partnerships will open MIBA, bringing together experts from the international scene, representatives of institutions and key market players, with the aim of sharing current trends and possible scenarios, by recounting the best practices and most advanced practices of recent years.

The Sustainable Identity of MIBA
Sustainability will not only be one of the key themes of MIBA's programme, but also a distinctive feature of the event.

In line with the Group's Sustainability Plan and its Mission, Fiera Milano has launched a process to measure the carbon footprint generated by its events. This edition of MIBA fits concretely into this virtuous path which has involved measuring the CO2 emissions generated by the event according to a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach, with the aim of reducing the environmental impact generated and undertaking targeted efficiency-boosting actions that will make MIBA part of the path towards the carbon neutrality of events by 2050.