This paper describes the multifunctional complex "Solaria": a development project of an unused industrial area, located in a urban district in the immediate outskirts of Perugia (Italy), conceived and designed according to principles of sustainable buildings. Energy efficiency solutions and innovative experimental components are synergically integrated in a single project, enabling to reach important results, as demonstrated by the assessment of environmental achievements and the calculation of avoided CO2 emissions. Since a quantitative evaluation of the energy savings, that can be achieved with the use of bioclimatic greenhouses, is very complex, due to the large number of parameters,which are necessary to describe their operation, the research work focused on the thermo-fluid dynamic modeling of these systems, with the use of a specific CFD-FEM software, COMSOL Multiphysics (TM). In particular a model was created, initially conceived in 2D and currently developed in 3D, which reproduces the thermo-fluid dynamic behavior of an experimental greenhouse in the Solaria complex. The possibility of changing parameters characterizing materials and climatic conditions allowed to appreciate the influence on energy performance of special reinforced thermal insulation, solar control glasses and external sliding sunshades. A further added value is the possibility to simulate an organic thin-film photovoltaic device of nanometric thickness. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.