RE2020 Thermal Study
Bordeaux, New Aquitaine

In Bordeaux, in climate zone H2c, the RE2020 combines the control of heating demand with summer comfort that is increasingly a sizing factor as summers grow warmer. On the dense developments of Euratlantique and the refurbishment of the old building stock, dynamic thermal simulation optimises thermal inertia, solar shading and ventilation to hold the degree-hours threshold without systematically resorting to air conditioning. The carbon component (Ic construction and Ic énergie, via ACV) steers the choice of materials, notably bio-based ones well established in the regional supply chain. We produce the RE2020 calculation, the STD and the Bbio and completion certificates for Bordeaux projects.

Summer comfort is the sticking point of the RE2020 in Bordeaux: on exposed façades, the degree-hours (DH) threshold is quickly exceeded, all the more so in the south of France. Dynamic thermal simulation arbitrates between thermal inertia, solar shading and natural ventilation before the building envelope is fixed.