RE2020 Thermal Study
La Rochelle, New Aquitaine

In La Rochelle, thermal studies fall within zone H2b, in a temperate oceanic climate where the focus has shifted from heating demand towards the carbon trajectory. The local authority has embarked on a territorial low-carbon approach that leads many clients to aim for thresholds more demanding than those of the RE2020, in particular on the carbon impact indicator of components. The maritime proximity also requires humidity and sea spray to be taken into account in the choice of systems and the treatment of thermal bridges. We set these ambitions from the programming stage, when they remain achievable without extra cost.

Summer comfort is the sticking point of the RE2020 in La Rochelle: 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.