The Acorus Group is carrying out a zero carbon project at the Town Hall of Champigny

A town hall steeped in history

It was in 1930 that this building was transformed by the architect Julien Heulot into a town hall. Historically, the town hall of Champigny was a former orphanage run by the Congregation of the Daughters of Charity of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul. Subsequently, it was transformed into an auxiliary hospital, run by the Union of Women of France during the First World War.

A project with High Sustainable Development Value

It is in an approach to enhance the municipal heritage that the renovation work on the facade was initiated. It was a stripping, with the aim of finding the moldings masked by the thickness of the coating and dirt. Then to put the new facade cladding in the rules of the art. The discovery of archives made it possible to recreate the original ocher shades on the facades. It is quite logical that the organization of a High Value Sustainable Development project has become essential. Combining heritage and environmental respect with a zero-carbon on-site renovation approach was a real challenge. The approach consisted of setting up site facilities and providing quarters that went beyond legal obligations, in order to provide the workers with better reception conditions (fridge, shower, bowl heater, etc.). ). These elements powered entirely independently by gas cylinders and solar panels. In addition, energy-saving lamps and timers were fitted to all modules.

Neutral products and optimized waste management

The stripping of the facades was carried out using a French-made product, which is environmentally neutral, non-flammable and non-toxic. The waste was collected and recycled to be compacted and sold to cement manufacturers to fuel their kilns.

For painting, the process is the same. The carbon impact was limited by the environmental quality of the products chosen, but also by the optimized delivery directly to the site and in suitable packaging.

All manual and projection tools were cleaned on site or in the workshop using a Rollers Cleaner station, so as to recover and treat paint waste, without any discharge into the sewer. As for other waste from the site, it was sorted and then recycled, via a temporary storage area before removal, dividing truck rotations by three, and thus significantly reducing the carbon footprint.

“We are very proud to have delivered the first zero-carbon project set up in France, for a town hall. Thanks to compensation actions (certified plantations), the net greenhouse gas emissions of this project are zero; this proves that building renovations can be carried out with a very low impact on the environment. The construction site was not more complicated and environmentally neutral products were not more expensive. The very satisfactory result encourages us to generalize this approach for all our projects.”, declares Philippe Benquet, President of the Acorus Group.