Innovation of the energy saving and optimization of the renewable sources are the most important sides of the building sector in the last years. Considering that buildings consume more than 40% of all the energy we use and about 50% of it is used for the conditioning systems, it is clear the reason why there is a precise need of improvement in the building behaviour and in the way of designing. In the last years the buildings vision itself is changing faster, from the passive house principles we are moving to the zero energy buildings or the latest active houses. Active House is a vision of buildings that create healthier and more comfortable lives for their occupants without impacting negatively on the climate. The concept is based on a responsive behaviour of the building, capable to answer instantly to the climate strains changing automatically its configurations and assuring the indoor comfort and energy saving, and it is promoting by an international no-profit organization, the Active House Alliance. This vision was born in the North European regions and it is moulded on some case studies, model homes built to spread the image of the future houses and designed for northern climate, so it fits perfectly cold climate. Politecnico di Milano, as member of the Alliance, is developing a solution for the adaptation to the south Europe, where the climate and the weather stress are different. VELUXlab is the first prototype of this vision in Italy. It is the first Italian NZEB in a university campus and, soon, it will be certified also as the first Italian Active House. The wireless sensor network system allows to control in real time the duo envelope (multi-layer dry construction) and automation technology performances, strengthening the good results obtained from the virtual dynamic simulations made during the design process.