RE2020 Thermal Study
Nanterre, Île-de-France

In Nanterre and the La Défense district, the thermal challenge is concentrated on a stock of high-rise buildings with heavily glazed façades, designed at a time when summer comfort was handled through cooling capacity. Today these buildings combine high internal loads, substantial solar gains and maximum exposure to the tertiary sector eco-energy scheme, which makes heavy façade refurbishment and the overhaul of systems the main lever for compliance. Dynamic thermal simulation is indispensable here, since the regulatory calculation does not reflect the real behaviour of these volumes.

Summer comfort is the sticking point of the RE2020 in Nanterre: 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.