Energy performance regulation

Since 2006, the French Energy Performance regulation, named RT, has been allowing two ways to justify building airtightness: either with a measurement or with the application of a quality management approach. The quality management approach certification is managed by the French Ministry in charge of construction, for which it set up a specific expert committee to assess quality management approaches. Since 2012, the justification has been compulsory for residential buildings. This obligation led to a more systematic use of certified quality management approaches.

Higher insulation and air tightness levels of buildings, increase the risk on overheating. Ventilative cooling as passive technique can limit overheating and decrease cooling energy consumption. The national energy performance regulations (EPBD) determine whether, how and under which requirements ventilative cooling can assist to reduce cooling demand and overheating. Therefore, those regulations are a key factor in the market uptake of ventilative cooling. Without a realistic and achievable approach, ventilative cooling will marginally be applied in buildings.

Envelope airtightness is incorporated in the French Energy Performance (EP) Regulation (named “RT”) and is a key factor in the reduction of energy consumption. From 2006 until 2012, the French 2005 Energy Performance Regulation (RT, 2005) did not require justification of envelope airtightness. However, constructors could get certification for airtightness through a quality management (QM) approach, in order to build better-than-regulatory buildings.

This paper focuses on energy performance compliance checks to the French EP-regulation RT 2000 and the way they are performed in Rhône-Alpes, Burgundy, and Franche-Comté. It gives an overview of the approach developed and used which consists in collecting