Espaces Ferroviaires, CSTB and Efficacity sign a Research and Development agreement

The three players will continue and expand the work already carried out within the framework of the previous partnership, in particular around a low-carbon design guide tool, specifically designed for developers and communities, based on UrbanPrint. A conference presenting this tool will be held on Wednesday September 20 at 14:30 p.m., during the Low Carbon Real Estate Show (SIBCA).

Responsible innovation, serving the city of tomorrow

The making of the city must think differently to take into account all of the current and future transformations of our living conditions. Whether it is the fight against global warming to limit its impacts, with the reduction of Greenhouse Gases and resource savings, adaptation to climate change or even quality of life, serving good living together, the city plays a central role in new environmental and societal dynamics.

To achieve these objectives and control environmental impacts, but also to facilitate the management of environmental studies, communities and developers must have innovative, reliable and efficient approaches and tools that can be easily adopted.

RAILWAY SPACES, the CSTB and Efficacity are mobilized in this collective intelligence serving the city of tomorrow:

• Real estate planner and developer of the SNCF Group, ESPACES FERROVIAIRES transforms disused land to invent a new urban heritage and repair the city in a global approach to innovation.
• In a systemic approach integrating all the challenges of buildings, districts and cities, the CSTB develops and mobilizes its scientific and technical knowledge to support the chain of actors in the face of profound changes in the sector. In this context, partnership research constitutes a key axis for developing, supporting and making innovation reliable, serving as many people as possible.
• An R&D institute dedicated to the energy and ecological transition of cities, founded under the aegis of the Future Investment Program (PIA) supported by the Government, Efficacity brings together around thirty public and private actors around innovative solutions for building the carbon-free city.

In 2017, ESPACES FERROVIAIRES and the CSTB, subsequently joined by Efficacity, combined their complementary expertise within the framework of a Research and Development partnership aimed at improving the monitoring of the performance of a development project and the decision-making for developers and/or communities.

Several structuring actions have been developed:

• UrbanPrint Developer prototyping: software specifically adapted to the practices and issues of a developer with, from the last quarter of 2021, the development of an innovative prototype making it possible to evaluate and compare the carbon impact of different ambition scenarios and this, from the development of an operation. To do this, this tool integrated the calculation core of UrbanPrint, software developed by the CSTB and Efficacity, intended for specialists in life cycle analysis and carbon assessment;
• The definition of a guide and fact sheets, implemented in this prototype dedicated to developers and communities so that everyone can benefit from feedback and promote the effectiveness of the different levers or possible actions (perception by users and commerciality, costs and aid available, additional studies to be carried out, etc.).

A renewed partnership to continue, expand and consolidate the first actions carried out

RAILWAY SPACES, CSTB and Efficacity will continue the Research and Development work previously initiated, around four axes:

• Optimize the ergonomics of the low-carbon design guide tool dedicated to developers and communities, to increase the skills of stakeholders, and thus support the transition from the prototype to an enriched tool;
• Continue its driving developments, in particular by integrating new levers, linked, for example, to earthworks, outdoor spaces, the circular economy, etc., and meeting the needs of ESPACES FERROVIAIRES as a developer participating in the regeneration of the city on the city;
• Integrate economic indicators in order to be able to enhance the environmental and carbon assessment already proposed by the tool, with an economic assessment with a global cost approach;
• Work on taking into account the interplay of actors in order to ultimately promote the integration of this guide tool or the “Quartier Energie Carbone” method, developed in particular by the CSTB and Efficacity and supported by ADEME, in the design processes of development projects, and thus ensure that the environmental dimension comes into play in the decision-making processes.

This additional work will make it possible to integrate into this new low-carbon design guide tool, additional elements and functionalities that can be understood by the developer, the community or the owner of the urban space, at the service of the city of tomorrow. .

A presentation conference at the Low Carbon Real Estate Show

On Wednesday, September 20, at 14:30 p.m., the outlines of this renewed partnership will be presented, also providing feedback on the UrbanPrint Developer tool. This conference will be held on stand A20, which will host the exhibition “Railway Spaces: 3 post-carbon districts” recently presented at the Pavillon de l'Arsenal.

In the presence of:

• Nadia TAHRI, innovation and sustainable development manager, RAILWAY SPACES
• Adelaïde AUBLET, Research and Expertise Engineer, CSTB and Efficacity member