3. Strategy implemented

France's international commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, drawn up in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, have led to a new technical policy strategy, involving the upgrading of some earlier technologies and driving new developments.

Regulatory requirements have reflected this evolution for over twenty years, adding the impact of the European context. For example, the November 2000 regulations require designers to calculate the overall annual energy consumption of a residential or non-residential building, taking into account both winter and summer conditions, based on a coefficient of surface loss (coefficient K in 1974).

Calculation methods, digital simulation tools, techniques combining artificial intelligence and the technology on offer have all undergone profound change.

As...