Meeting the requirements

Contenu Principal

Elementary requirements

In order to obtain the BBC–effinergie label, the main requirement consists in not exceeding a consumption value of: 50 kWhpe per m² of NFA per year.

The calculation is made according to the Th-CE method, which is that of the Thermal Regulation 2005. The results are therefore displayed with the following rate: kWh of primary energy (1) per m² of Net Floor Area (NFA).

The diversity of climates is taken into account as this value of 50 is multiplied by a coefficient of climate harshness.

As a consequence, the values of this requirement fluctuate between 40 and 65 kWhpe/m²NFA/year according to the regions.
The coefficient of climate harshness is increased by 0.1 if the construction altitude ranges from 400 to 800m and it is increased by 0.2 if the construction altitude is higher than 800m.

Besides, the building air tightness must be measured and be under 0.6 m3/h.m² for a detached house and under 1 m3/h.m2 for apartment buildings (2).

_{(1) The primary energy can take into account the energy loss during the transformation of energy. It corresponds to the energy bought to the energy distributor (named as final energy) which is multiplied by a coefficient equivalent to 2.58 for electricity, 0.6 for wood and 1 for other energies. This 2.58 coefficient for electricity takes into account the heat supplied by the power station. This heat is not used and it is evacuated in the natural surroundings (sea, river…).
(2) This value quantifies the leakage flow going through the building envelope. It is stated as m3/h.m2 of building envelope, under a pressure differential of 4 Pascals, according to the RT 2005 Thermal Regulation}

Five energy–using solutions

The consumption – that should not be exceeded – applies to the energy utilizations that can be actively influenced from the design of a building:

• Heating
• Hot water
• Auxiliary appliances for ventilation and heating
• Lighting (via natural lighting)
• Air-conditioning

It does not include the other utilizations of electricity (particularly the household appliances, audiovisual equipment…) that are equivalent to more than 50 kWhpe/m2.year of additional consumption.

A similar calculation to that of the RT 2005

The Thermal Regulation measure is improved by 4 criteria set up in the framework of this label:

1. The CO2 emissions and the proportion of the renewable energies used in a building must be calculated and supplied when the label is duly required.
2. In order to enable an efficient development of solutions requiring firewood heating, the coefficient for the transition from primary energy to wood is equal to 0.6.
3. As one of the objectives consisted in a good thermal performance of the building, the local electricity production (photovoltaic, micro-wind energy,…) is only deducted from the energy consumptions up to a limit of 12 kWhpe/m².yr (this value represents the specific average proportion of electricity in terms of consumption stated in kWhpe/m².yr for a BBC-effinergie project).
4. If the NFA exceeds 20% of the living area, the reference surface will be 1.2 times the living area in order to meet the BBC-effinergie requirements.

Regarding the innovative systems and products, a specific procedure is planned: see the effinergie collective of your region on the following website www.effinergie.org in the ‘Effinergie dans le neuf’ section. A comprehensive description of the BBC-effinergie referential is available in this very same section.

Editor’s note

For a better reading of this guide and in order to make comparisons with the objective of 50 kWh of primary energy per m² of NFA, per year, all the energy consumptions introduced in this guide are stipulated with the same unit: kWh of primary energy per m² of Net Floor Area, per year. For an easier reading, the kWhpe/m² NFA.yr unit is written kWhpe/m².yr.
We wanted to illustrate this guide with figured examples. They are based upon examples of a detached house and an apartment building. These two buildings have been successively located in Nancy and Nice in order to illustrate the impact of the climate upon the consumptions and the summer comfort.
The provided figures are just instructive illustrations and they only represent very useful orders of magnitude to understand the issues. Under no circumstances, they can stand for the figures mentioned in a survey about a given building.