Ecoconstruction center of Beaulieu-lès-Loches

The low-carbon aspect of this building is based on a replicable approach in the Center-Val-de-Loire region : the renovation of buildings that have already been partially refurbished. The carbon footprint of this type of operation is much better than a new construction and also allows to participate in the revitalization of existing places.
To continue working in a low carbon perspective, biobased materials have been widely used while remaining in reasonable cost , knowing that it is a demonstrator. The rapeseed insulation experiment is also an initiative to test a material from a short and abundant sector throughout the region. The development of this would also allow farmers to control more the selling price of their production.
This building is therefore part of a low-carbon reflection that perpetuates and energizes the socio-patrimonial landscape of the region. On the structural level, the materials used in the context of the rehabilitation serve as demonstrators: massive wood floors and ceiling , earth and insulation coatings on the walls, glass plates on the floor to see 12 solutions of bulk insulation (cork, hemp, wadding, sunflower bark, rapeseed, sunflower marrow, etc.).
Technical solutions used for the development of the site:

• Use of wood as structuring elements in the existing envelope (floor, frame)
• Creation of isolated wooden caissons on the ground, with cork: the building being located in a flood zone, it was necessary to raise the ground of 60 cm, while insulating it with a rot-proof material. This dry solution was preferred to a solution "insulating concrete" for reasons of drying and quantity of materials to provide.
• The exterior walls and some partitions are insulated with a hemp-wood fiber, incorporating cotton: this insulation solution also has interesting acoustic properties for tertiary buildings.
• For questions of inertia and sound separation, partitions were laid with Chanvribloc panels, coated with raw earth. Chanvribloc, breeze block of hemp concrete, has been favored to bunch of plant aggregates, for reasons of moisture evacuation, as part of a rehabilitation time constrained. The earth finish makes it possible to highlight this interesting material for different reasons, including the carbon footprint.
• The ceiling is insulated with local plant aggregates (sunflower granules, ground rapeseed cane). This significant choice of project management serves as a pilot site for this bulk insulation solution. The instrumentation also allows to see the behavior and the aging of this material.
• The heating is provided by a wood pellet boiler, with a good carbon footprint and a good return on investment. This solution was preferred to a water-water heat pump, to register the cluster in the "energy wood" approach of the territory. Assuming the creation of a pellet manufacturing unit, the community could also source locally.
• Double flow ventilation has been installed throughout the building, the only solution to combine air exchange and conservation of calories.
• GTB (Building Technical Management) are present on the wood boiler and the double flow ventilation. Associated with the differentiated meters, it allows to have a look at energy consumption, according to the uses.
• To limit the crossings of wall, and present the technique, the different networks (heating, electricity, double flow) are apparent.
• The finishes are natural: gypsum-cellulose panels painted on walls and ceilings, linoleum and solid wood flooring, chestnut planks on the ceiling of the reception room.