In 2022, the company will go further, with the application of its holistic approach to housing, allowing it to test its research through an R&D village, for this, 3 R&D houses will be built in Saint-Nazaire in 2022.
3 R&D houses to materialize innovation as close as possible to the inhabitants
For Nicolas Descombes, CEO of the company: “Our job requires us to be one step ahead and to project ourselves, without ever improvising. We have always had this head start, for example by integrating aluminum into our joinery since 1985. By creating our R&D unit in 2019, made up of a design office bringing together different professions and a team works, (composed of pairs of technical secretaries / works supervisors), the objective was to maintain this lead. »
Today, Berthelot Constructions wishes to apply the innovative concepts resulting from its R&D unit, by anchoring them in the daily life of the inhabitants to analyze their uses. The Loire company announces the construction, in 2022, of 3 R&D houses, which will integrate new technologies and will allow the company to analyze the control of the costs of these, in order to then be able to duplicate them and deploy them at more large scale. “For this, dialogue with the inhabitants will be essential. We plan to conduct a study, to understand and study the acquisition of these technologies for their users. ” emphasizes the CEO.
Provide a concrete response to the housing and ecological crises
For Nicolas Descombes, CEO of the company: “Historically, we developed show homes, to show future residents what their future home might look like. This allowed them to project themselves and discover our latest innovations. This concept no longer makes sense and is no longer coherent today, because as soon as this “showcase habitat” was built, it is no longer up to date and the technology is already outdated. »
The company is therefore following a different logic, that of using the land it has, of building housing with all the innovations developed by its R&D unit, and then renting out these habitats. These houses are built on land with a reduced surface area, with the aim of responding to the urbanization problems of tomorrow, among others, urban densification. “Our objective is to respond to two major crises: the housing crisis, by enabling more and more responsible and sustainable construction, as well as the ecological crisis, by preserving natural and agricultural land. concludes Nicolas Descombes. The company is taking another step towards the housing of tomorrow, which is more ethical, personalized and scalable.
3 “R&D houses” in Saint-Nazaire
The construction of the 3 houses will start in the first quarter of 2022. These will have an area between 84 and 109 m². Each R&D House is built to test specific elements.
Maison Evolutia: sustainably optimize the insulation and heating of the walls to the ceiling
- Living area: 109.81 m².
- Plenum, lowered ceiling in the center of the house which serves to serve all the rooms in heating. Powerful insufflation system. Reversible air conditioning/heating.
- Brick in geosourced and renewable raw material exploited only in France allowing a better quality of the interior air of the housing.
- ECS (thermal dynamic hot water): the heat pump of this house does not produce hot water, 1 hot water tank is therefore sufficient.
- Knauff RT+ insulation in accordance with RE2020 allowing the air permeability of the building. The glass wool used is made up of binders from beet cultivation.
Maison Decoria: rethinking energy management
- Living area: 84.54 m².
- Bio-based wood wool offering better thermal resistance to the whole house.
- Renson hygro-adjustable single-flow VMC with self-management of air treatment and information on indoor air quality via a Touch Display touch control.
- PLAFINO heated ceiling avoiding overconsumption and overheating coupled with a cooling well consisting of a water circuit in the foundations of the house.
- Planistar glass that recovers the calories from the sun to restore them during the day in the house.
- Hoffman concrete in the beams, posts and paving of the house. This concrete is the most carbon neutral on the market.
Maison Natura: linking innovation and quality of life by drawing inspiration from nature
- Living area: 89.58 m².
- Biosourced linen wool.
- Delta Dore pack: integrated heating system with rolling shutters and room modulation.
- VMI (Reverse Mechanical Ventilation) Ventilairsec: system with ventilation loops on the roof of the house and air reprocessing (eliminates excess pollutants, filters external pollution, re-suction in damp rooms). Smartphone control.
- Multi Splits: heating/air conditioning on the thermodynamic wall.
- Non-polluting algae paints.