Eco-construction and eco-design

Sustainable buildings, smart buildings…

IMAGINE TOMORROW’S BUILDINGS TODAY
The construction sector currently accounts for nearly one quarter of France’s greenhouse gas emissions. To guarantee a sustainable future for our children, France’s per capita emissions must be divided by 4.

The construction sector has significant room for maneuver as it is now possible to design buildings which produce more energy that they use, for an overall cost almost equal to that of a traditional building: this is the challenge of sustainable buildings.

A sustainable building is a building whose design or renovation process is the object of an approach based on the eco-design approach:

• usage definition, validation and consultation by stakeholders,
• design by integrating environmental criteria,
• continuous improvement.

A sustainable building is therefore:


AN ECONOMICAL BUILDING:

• In terms of energy: significant reduction in heating and cooling requirements, energy gain optimization, power consumption limitation (lighting and ventilation management, efficient equipment).
• In terms of upkeep-maintenance: choice of materials, equipment and implementation requiring limited upkeep, facilitating maintenance and promoting long life for the entire site.
• In terms of overall cost: take into account direct and indirect costs, the increase in energy costs as well as the impact on health and the environment. Only 20% of the overall cost of a building relates to construction, 80% is due to its operation (maintenance and consumption).

AN ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY BUILDING (INSIDE AND OUTSIDE):

• By integrating the building into its environment: bioclimatic architecture (orientation, compactness, passive management of weather constraints) taking into account architectural issues, stormwater management, improvement in cycle paths, consideration of site characteristics (specific risks, meteorology).
• By reducing CO2 emissions and the impact on the planet: choice of low embodied energy construction materials derived from natural and renewable resources, rainwater recovery, production of renewable energy.
• By reducing the nuisances of the construction site and activity: discharge limitation (dust, wastewater, etc.), noise abatement, waste sorting and recovery.

A COMFORTABLE BUILDING:

• With controlled solar supply in the summer and passive cooling: Canadian wells, natural ventilation, night cooling. Optimization via dynamic thermal simulation.
• With controlled natural light and pleasant views: natural light analysis in the rooms and anti-dazzle treatment.
• With a healthy environment: choice of construction materials with a low impact on health (VOC, formaldehydes, etc.), ecological maintenance methods, improvement in air and water quality.