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Eco-construction, sustainable building. How do we define these now everyday expressions? What have they brought to the construction sector? How are they evolving? Sustainable construction is already well established. And it has a bright future.
"Green building", "ecological building", "eco-construction". These buzzwords have been setting the pace in the construction industry for over thirty years. How do they measure up? The three voluntary standards and labels - HQE, BREEAM and LEED - are in demand by builders and developers to highlight the quality of their products, and are enjoying international success.
In France, the best-known label is HQE, for Haute Qualité Environnementale, with almost 55,000 homes certified in France and 50 million square meters certified in 25 countries. The UK's BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) certification scheme has issued nearly 600,700 certificates in 93 countries. As for the American LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environment Design) certificate, it is credited with over 70,000 certifications in the USA, which would represent 90 to 95% of all certificates issued.
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What do these certificates bring to construction sites? The concept of green building embraces a wider range of issues than those covered by environmental and energy regulations, which focus on thermal performance and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
These sustainable building standards aim, on the one hand, to reduce the impact and pollution of all kinds that the construction or renovation of a building produces in the environment; and on the other hand, to improve the quality of life for users, notably through the technical expertise brought to bear on subjects such as thermal and acoustic comfort, indoor air quality, and the greening of exterior spaces to respect biodiversity. All this, while maintaining the objective of keeping construction costs under control.
In concrete terms, these approaches enable the client and his project partners - architects, engineers, contractors, and sometimes even users - to develop an approach to environmental issues that is both comprehensive and relevant to the constraints of a construction site.
From the general to the specific
How to get started on an eco-construction site. Right from the programming phase, designers begin by comparing the environmental priorities proposed by the client with the needs of the future building and the characteristics of the site. These characteristics are bioclimatic (geography, relief, vegetation, soil and subsoil, watercourses, local weather, orientation, projected climatic changes...), urban (surrounding context, presence of transport routes; energy, heating or cooling networks, wastewater and stormwater drainage; proximity of commercial and industrial activities...) or sanitary (water quality, air pollution, radon emissions...).
Translated into performance requirements for the structure, this reflection takes the form of technical choices. These can be described step by step.
Where to locate the building on the plot of land to enable it to take advantage of the site's potential (urban integration, orientation, exploitable energies, visual quality, etc.).
What materials should be used for the structure and envelope? Timber frame, clay brick or mud brick? Is it possible to use "off-site" production solutions, i.e. prefabrication workshops, to reduce site nuisance (noise, waste, etc.) and meet deadlines?
Which insulating materials to use? Hemp, wood wool, cellulose...? What are the local supply capacities for these materials?
What sustainable technical equipment should be installed? Should you connect to a heating and cooling network - where the majority of energy production comes from renewable sources - or install a biomass boiler or a high-efficiency heat pump? Should solar energy be used to produce hot water or electricity? Will the photovoltaic equipment be designed for self-consumption of energy, or as part of a smart grid?
Depending on the extracted air energy recovery strategy - heating fresh air, supplying the cold source of a heat pump - will a single- or dual-flow ventilation unit be installed? What type of filtration should be used to manage air quality in relation to external pollution?
How can we help users save electricity? The quest for visual comfort and the quality of light in spaces should give priority to free solar gain, and artificial lighting should use light sources that consume little electricity and are controlled by lighting probes. The same applies to water: how can we constantly control its quality, avoiding bacterial growth? How can we avoid wasting it, so as to reduce both the need for sanitation by the community and the costs to be paid by occupants? Can rainwater be used to supply sanitary facilities?
Priority is given to products that do not emit polluting or toxic compounds. Does the purchasing strategy integrate the circular economy, the re-use of products, etc.?
Technically speaking, some large residential or commercial buildings display a real sophistication of operation. The use of a technical management system and predictive equipment maintenance are essential to control the building, correct any operating drifts and ensure the long-term viability of the investment.
Often, to address this crucial issue, the project owner will ask for an energy performance contract to be drawn up at the start of the works, and implemented as soon as the building is in operation. Failing that, a building logbook, in which all interventions are recorded, is essential.
HQE, BREEAM and LEED: how do they compare?
This initial approach applies to all standards. If HQE is chosen, the four objectives - eco-construction, eco-management, comfort and health - and the resulting 14 targets are covered. Depending on the number of targets deemed satisfactory, five levels of certification are offered, from fair to exceptional.
A recent example is the Villages 3 complex in La Défense, a 6,700 m² semi-circular R+9 building certified in 2016 to NF HQE "Rénovation Excellent", as well as BREEAM "Conception Very Good" and "In-Use Excellent".
The BREEAM label has ten items to be addressed, including the site and its potential, the materials selected, consideration of health and well-being, energy management, water, waste, innovation... The results of audits classify projects according to five levels. Recent examples in Paris include the renovation of a 1,780 m² office building on rue Lafayette, which was awarded the BREEAM "Very Good" label.
As for LEED, the standard details projects according to seven items that largely overlap with those of the BREEAM label; performance is calculated in points - the maximum being 110 - and summarized in four classes - certified, silver, gold and platinum. One of the most remarkable recent buildings is IntenCity in Grenoble (26,000 m²), occupied by Schneider Electric; it was competing to achieve the LEED Platinium label at 103 points.
But how do they compare? While there are strong similarities between the three labels in technical terms - worksite management, site analysis, materials and equipment, energy - they differ significantly in terms of their consideration of human aspects, with HQE being the most advanced in terms of comfort (thermal, acoustic, daylight) and health (water quality, air renewal). Overall, HQE and LEED share a number of prerequisites, but HQE seems to stand out for its greater emphasis on energy performance. In fact, the HQE label emerges from the comparisons as the most demanding, but also the one that takes the longest to process audits.
Ambitious, high-performance projects
Since its creation, Trimble Consulting has been committed to supporting projects with a high environmental value, and has collaborated on several emblematic projects in different parts of the world. In Latin America, we can cite the Reserva do Paiva project in Recife (Brazil), where Iron House (the real estate division of the Brennand Group) has undertaken the urban development of 500 ha in a coastal area. Conducted in BIM, the project led by local designers AECOM and EDSA took into account the impact of civil engineering works on the topography and on protected species.
In the Middle East, the KAUST project, King Abdullah University represented the highest LEED Platinum certification when it was delivered. Trimble Consulting worked on the Solar Tower, a complex construction and environmental innovation designed to provide natural cooling for the university campus. The two solar towers are located between buildings on the campus of the University of Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) and were designed by the American firm HOK and built by Saudi OGER. This "chimney" overhanging the teaching premises is designed to provide natural ventilation from the atrium to the other parts of the building by means of convection and venturi effects. This structure contributes to reducing energy consumption for air conditioning and ventilation in a geographical context with a very arid climate, where air conditioning is used extensively to cool building spaces.
The third example is the 25-storey twin towers Al Bahar Tower (70,000 m²) for developer Al-Futtaim Carillion, in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), designed by the consortium ICHQ, Aedas, Mace and Arup. Trimble Consulting was called in to deploy a parametric BIM design process, and in particular to develop and validate dynamic simulation studies for the façade use of 1,049 moucharabieh modules designed to control solar gain. Their automatic management, controlled by light sensors and anemometers, reduces energy consumption by 20%.
An idea for the future
Eco-responsible building has established itself as a solution to environmental problems such as global warming and the energy transition. Over the past few decades in France, public authorities have stepped up their regulatory initiatives. The 2015 Energy Transition and Green Growth Act laid down the main principles for reducing energy consumption and decarbonizing the building industry. Thus, all housing stock must be brought up to "low-energy building" standard by 2050. The "low-carbon" strategy for 2050 adopted as a result of this law sets an almost complete decarbonization of the building sector: its greenhouse gas emissions will be limited to 5 Mt by this deadline, compared with 85-90 Mt in 2018-2020.
The movement continues with the so-called Elan law (Evolution du logement, de l'aménagement et du numérique) of 2018, which launched work on the RE 2020 environmental regulation. Applicable from January 2022, it reinforces the thermal performance of the envelope and requires design offices to take a global and precise approach to the energy consumption and CO₂ emissions of all materials and equipment. In fact, this new rule contributes to the energy transition by favoring eco-friendly heating such as heat pumps or solar panels over gas-fired boilers, which emit greenhouse gases.
Also in the wake of the Elan law, in July 2019 the decree on the compulsory renovation of tertiary buildings was published. This huge project, scheduled to run until 2050, covers 940 million m² of premises and should eventually reduce energy consumption by two-thirds.
For all that, energy sobriety and low CO₂ emissions, as displayed in an energy performance diagnosis (DPE), are not enough to define eco-construction. This is why the Plan Bâtiment Durable, a structure for dialogue between the State and the building industry, has been entrusted, in spring 2021, with drafting a label to complement the RE 2020. It will cover the entire areas left out: comfort and health, water management, circular economy, biodiversity, integration into a smart energy grid. These are classic themes for eco-construction standards.
* Breaking new ground
Further developments are expected over the next few years. In mid-July 2021, the European Commission announced its "Fit for 55" program, with which EU countries will have to comply. It projects a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990. This implies reducing final energy consumption by 36% (9% more than in the previous program), increasing the energy mix to 40% renewable energies, using 49% renewable energies in buildings, and integrating the circular economy into construction. These requirements will gradually be incorporated into building regulations, making green building a widespread practice.
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