Multi-criterion environmental optimisation at the scale of the building block

Context and challenges

Construction is the economic sector representing the largest share of final energy consumption in France, and today, 82% of the population lives in a large urban area. It is becoming essential to reduce the energy consumption of neighbourhoods and, in particular, to increase the environmental performance of buildings. This results in the need for knowledge in order to develop an approach to help eco-design neighbourhoods.

Objectives

The objective of the thesis is to assess the environmental and economic performance of neighbourhoods, and to optimise it according to parameters of building design, energy production and distribution. Based on multi-criterion optimisation, the approach will offer a combination of dynamic thermal simulation, life-cycle assessment and economic evaluation tools for projects to identify, on a multi-criterion basis (Pareto front), neighbourhoods generating high levels of low costs and environmental impacts over the entire life cycle.