Giving each home an identity: the success of the EDF Hydro renovation project with Myral

A groundbreaking experiment to sustainably transform nine housing estates owned by EDF Hydro

EDF Hydro, owner of a portfolio of 8.000 homes used to house its on-call staff, was looking for a reliable solution to renovate these houses and small apartment buildings. IZI by EDF was then appointed as the general contractor to manage the operations, and Myral, a specialist in exterior insulation, was chosen as the industrial partner, with the objective of testing a reproducible renovation method incorporating 3D scanning and a phased approach adapted to local conditions and budgets.

Myral therefore played a central role on several levels in this program:

• Technical design of the envelopes: prefabricated EWI systems in pre-lacquered aluminium.
• 3D modeling and point clouds for precise coordination between actors.
• Flexibility of intervention: supply only or supply + installation, depending on local needs.

According to Pierre Guerrero, business manager in the East for Myral: "We've adapted a B2B model from B2C: the manufacturer supplies, the general contractor buys, and the subcontractors install. This creates economic leverage and, above all, replicability."

Revaluing the heritage and giving each dwelling a new identity

Beyond thermal performance, EDF Hydro also wanted to modernize and upgrade its housing estates, often quite old, to make them more attractive to employees. "In estates near dynamic areas, the land value justified an upgrade. In Plobsheim, for example, near Strasbourg, we opted for high-quality finishes to create a strong image and attract new residents," explains Bruce Lerat, project manager at IZI by EDF.

The team of architects, led by ABLOK, worked on overall coherence while preserving the identity of each site. "The standing seam, proposed by Myral, immediately appealed to me. I used it as a marker to highlight entrances, landmarks, and give character to the facades. The idea was to give each dwelling an identity: to mark its entrance, to restore individual usability within the complex," explains Violette Kopf of the ABLOK firm.

This approach made it possible to avoid the standardization of the work while maintaining a common signature across all the renovated cities.

A gradual approach and exemplary coordination

IZI by EDF has defined three levels of intervention: Standard, Premium, and Excellence, to adapt to the available building envelopes while guaranteeing technical and aesthetic consistency. "In Fessenheim, we were working with Premium. In Espinasse, we moved up to Excellence, with wood finishes and maximum thermal performance. This gave the whole project coherence while remaining flexible," explains Bruce Lerat.

For Myral, this gradual approach is fully aligned with its industrial philosophy: to produce modular, high-performance systems that are easy to deploy. "We have demonstrated that with a flexible solution like ours, it is possible to scale up renovations while respecting local and budgetary constraints," emphasizes Pierre Guerrero.

"The EDF teams were impressed by the aesthetic quality and the modernization achieved."

This pilot project has yielded a more than positive outcome. "The 3D captures worked well, planning permissions were simplified thanks to the visuals, and above all, the architectural rendering was praised by EDF. Its real estate management, based in Paris, came to visit Plobsheim: they were impressed by the aesthetic quality and the modernization achieved," reports Bruce Lerat.

The architects, for their part, praised the collaboration with Myral. "I appreciated the freedom and the open communication: we laid out our intentions, then Myral came back with technical adjustments. It was efficient and respectful of everyone's role," concluded Violette Kopf.

For Myral, this operation confirms the relevance of its industrial and digital model, capable of combining energy efficiency, budget control, and architectural enhancement. This model could now be extended to other landlords facing the challenge of energy renovation.