NORMAXIS in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
MEP engineering office, environmental consulting, biodiversity certification

NORMAXIS operates in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region on real-estate, office, industrial and public projects: RE2020 thermal engineering, MEP building services, acoustics, environmental consulting (HQE Bâtiment Durable, BREEAM, NF Habitat), ecological surveys, court-admissible measurements and independent third-party biodiversity certification. Teams mobilised on Lyon, Grenoble, Clermont-Ferrand and across the whole region.

Frame a project in AURA See our expertise

Regional presence

A region where the environmental challenge is first and foremost one of air and altitude.

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes is France's second most populous region and concentrates markets of high technical intensity: metropolitan office property in Lyon (Part-Dieu, Confluence, Gerland), research and microelectronics in Grenoble, industry and healthcare in Clermont-Ferrand, and a mountain economy across the Alpine ranges and the Massif Central.

Two features set the region apart from the rest of our territory. The first is air quality: the enclosed valleys and Alpine conurbations experience recurrent pollution episodes, governed by atmosphere protection plans and low-emission zones, which weighs on the choice of heating systems and on the siting of air intakes. The second is altitude, which alters thermal requirements, lengthens the heating season and complicates site logistics.

The region has no dedicated regional environmental-assessment scheme comparable to the Mediterranean BDM or the Occitan BDO: projects turn to HQE Bâtiment Durable, BREEAM and NF Habitat HQE, with greater reliance on BREEAM than elsewhere on the Lyon office market, tied to the weight of institutional investors.

Our expertise in the region

Three subsidiaries, one complete offer for all your projects in AURA.

Arkemep

Thermal & MEP engineering

  • • RE2020, dominant heating demand and reinforced requirements at altitude
  • • Dynamic thermal simulation on heavily glazed office buildings
  • • HVAC, plumbing, CFO/CFA electricity, BMS
  • • French Tertiary Decree / OPERAT, BACS decree, DDADUE energy audit, ISO 50001
  • • EN 15978 carbon LCA, indoor air quality simulation
Arkenor

Consulting & ecological surveys

  • • Certification consulting: HQE Bâtiment Durable, BREEAM, NF Habitat
  • • Fauna-flora surveys, Alpine and mid-mountain habitats
  • • CNPN files, Natura 2000, French Water Act, ERC sequence
  • • Court-admissible acoustic measurements, air-tightness testing, ventilation
  • • Electromagnetic field measurements as an independent third party
Irice

Third-party certification

  • • Effinature biodiversity certification ISO/IEC 17065
  • • BPS portfolio diagnostic
  • • Efficarbone construction-site carbon
  • • BREEAM assessment (BRE Global)
  • • Opposable ESG indicators (CSRD ESRS E4, SFDR PAI 7)

Territorial coverage

Lyon, Grenoble, Clermont-Ferrand and the mountain ranges.

Coverage across all twelve départements of the region, from the metropolises of the Rhône valley to the mountain territories of the Alps and the Massif Central.

Lyon Metropolis & Rhône

Lyon, Villeurbanne, Vénissieux, Saint-Priest. Part-Dieu office district, Confluence neighbourhood, chemicals valley, logistics, urban district heating network, low-emission zone.

Isère & Alps

Grenoble, Chambéry, Annecy, Valence. Research and microelectronics, campuses, mountain tourist accommodation, new tourism developments (unités touristiques nouvelles), air quality in the valleys.

Puy-de-Dôme & Auvergne

Clermont-Ferrand, Riom, Vichy, Aurillac, Le Puy-en-Velay. Industry, healthcare and teaching hospital, spa thermalism, volcanic heritage and high-altitude habitats of the Massif Central.

Rest of the region

Saint-Étienne, Roanne, Bourg-en-Bresse, Montélimar, Aubenas. Regeneration of historic town centres, public facilities, renewable energy, industrial projects.

By city

Our services in Lyon, Grenoble, Clermont-Ferrand, Saint-Étienne, Annecy, Chambéry and Valence.

Building Acoustics

Lyon Grenoble Clermont-Ferrand Saint-Étienne Annecy Chambéry Valence

RE2020 Thermal Study

Lyon Grenoble Clermont-Ferrand Saint-Étienne Annecy Chambéry Valence

MEP building services engineering

Lyon Grenoble Clermont-Ferrand Saint-Étienne Annecy Chambéry Valence

Environmental certification advisory

Lyon Grenoble Clermont-Ferrand Saint-Étienne Annecy Chambéry Valence

Ecological surveys

Lyon Grenoble Clermont-Ferrand Saint-Étienne Annecy Chambéry Valence

Electromagnetic field measurements

Lyon Grenoble Clermont-Ferrand Saint-Étienne Annecy Chambéry Valence

Indoor air quality simulation

Lyon Grenoble Clermont-Ferrand Saint-Étienne Annecy Chambéry Valence

Applicable frameworks

With no regional label, the trade-off is between HQE, BREEAM and NF Habitat.

Unlike PACA and Occitania, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes has no dedicated regional environmental-assessment scheme with an awarding commission. The choice of framework is therefore made on market criteria rather than territorial ones, which makes the initial trade-off all the more structuring.

  • BREEAM, dominant on the Lyon investment-office market, expected by funds and international occupiers. Its weighted-credit system strongly rewards location and transport, favouring well-served metropolitan operations.
  • HQE Bâtiment Durable, the benchmark for public procurement and facilities, with a more demanding grid on the health and comfort aspects.
  • NF Habitat and NF Habitat HQE, the standard for new-build and refurbished housing, including for social landlords.

We position the framework according to the project's real target, occupier, investor or public authority, and not by carrying over the previous operation. Cumulation remains possible and relevant in certain arrangements, but it has a cost that must be assessed at the outset.

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes benchmarks

Key facts.

12 dépts

Regional coverage

From Ain to Puy-de-Dôme, Alps and Massif Central

No label

No regional scheme

HQE, BREEAM and NF Habitat are the reference

Altitude

Thermal requirements

Long heating season, mountain constraints

48-72 h

Site mobilisation

From our Aix-en-Provence head office

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes FAQ

Frequently asked questions about our work in AURA.

No. Our single head office is in Aix-en-Provence (Espace Wagner) and we have no agency in the Lyon, Grenoble or Clermont-Ferrand areas. Our teams travel on site as the project requires, within 48 to 72 hours. We prefer to state this clearly rather than display a registered-address front: on most assignments, the real frequency of travel is low and quality rests on the competence mobilised, not on the postcode. For long operations, a dedicated reference engineer ensures continuity.
On investment-office property, BREEAM is most often expected, because it is recognised by funds and international occupiers and structures the resale value. On a public facility or a programme led by a local authority, HQE Bâtiment Durable is better suited and better understood by the planning authorities. The choice must be settled before the preliminary design stage (APS): switching framework during design is costly, because the grids do not weight the same items and some evidence is not transposable.
In the Alpine valleys and the conurbations subject to an atmosphere protection plan, it comes into play at two levels. First on heating, where certain combustion solutions are restricted or discouraged. Then on ventilation, where the siting and filtration of air intakes become decisive, particularly for establishments hosting vulnerable users. These choices belong to the design stage and can be modelled: this is the purpose of our indoor air quality simulation, carried out during the design phase.
The region layers vegetation belts, from the Rhône plain to the high-altitude Alpine habitats, with a dense Natura 2000 network and protected mountain species whose survey protocols differ appreciably from those of the plains. High-altitude wetlands, peat bogs and fens are frequently underestimated at the feasibility stage and then become blocking factors. The survey calendar is also constrained by snow cover, which lengthens the duration of a full biological cycle and must be anticipated very early on.
Yes, on the engineering and environmental aspects: RE2020 thermal study with the constraints specific to altitude, building services and heat production, acoustics, prior ecological survey and protected-species derogation file where the footprint justifies it. These operations often fall under the new tourism development procedure (unités touristiques nouvelles), whose examination requires a solid environmental component. We work upstream, at the stage where the programme can still be adjusted without undermining the project economics.

A project in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes?

Technical framing, certification consulting, ecological expertise, biodiversity certification: our teams reply within 48 working hours. Site visit possible within 72 hours in Lyon, Grenoble, Clermont-Ferrand.

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