New environmental regulations RE2020 in France

Aereco ventilation systems: an asset for RE2020

Initially scheduled for January 1st, 2021, the RE2020 environmental regulations finally came into force on January 1st, 2022 for residential buildings (the building permit filing date being taken as proof). From this date, it replaces the thermal regulation RT2012.

In France, the building sector is responsible for 44% of energy consumption and nearly 25% of CO2 emissions, RE2020 is part of a continuous and progressive action in favor of less energy-consuming buildings. The goal is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

This environmental regulation has 3 main axes:

• Encourage sobriety and energy efficiency: the primary energy consumption thresholds are lowered by approximately 15% to 20% compared to RT2012.
• Reduce the carbon impact on the life cycle of new buildings: new indicators make it possible to measure the carbon footprint of the building, from the construction phase to the end of life (construction materials, equipment), including the operating (heating, domestic hot water, air conditioning, lighting, etc.). This life cycle analysis is calculated over 50 years.
• Guarantee summer comfort for non-air-conditioned buildings in the event of high heat: with global warming, buildings face increasingly high temperatures with more frequent periods of heat waves. A new indicator, the number of Degree-Hours of discomfort (DH), is now considered to limit discomfort in periods of high heat (with the establishment of a ceiling) and avoid the systematic use of the air conditioning.

Regarding ventilation, there is a new verification protocol: during the pre-acceptance of a project, a test of the mechanical ventilation system to check that it is working properly is now mandatory.

The methodology for doing these checks includes:

• a simplified pre-inspection,
• functional checks of the ventilation installations,
• functional measurements at the outlets in flow and/or pressure.

To meet these regulations, Aereco offers various solutions ranging from natural ventilation to heat recovery ventilation (MVHR). All our systems and products comply with RE2020.

This new regulation will also apply to offices and educational buildings from July 1st, 2022, then to other buildings from January 1st, 2023.