Analysis of the prescriptions for energy quality buildings in three Parisian urban development projects

Abstract

In Paris (France), urban projects currently cover 10% of the territory. In the context of rising energy costs and the fight against climate change, reducing energy consumption in buildings and transportation is an unavoidable issue for these urban projects. While many studies analyse assessment tools and sustainability frameworks, only a few focus on developer practices. We describe how energy issues are integrated into urban development, focusing on three projects located in Paris. We compare environmental specifications made within these three projects to ensure high energy quality of the planned buildings. We observed that the way of prescribing energy performances varies from project to project. Differences in priorities from one engineering firm to another lead to a high variability of parameters identified to ensure high building energy performances.