To design an innovative building, SIZIAF’s approach has been equally innovative. The brief has been defined by a team of 3 architectural practices. The idea is to draw upon the experience of architects with expertise in the design of sustainable building, to define an innovative building in terms of environmental, social and economic performance.
There are two main environmental principles for the building :
• Very good energy performance
• To reflect the current global environmental concerns (bioclimatic design, environmentally-friendly materials).
The initial idea described a building with low energy consumption (+/- 50kWh/sq.m/year), a predetermined budget, then SIZIAF wanted to go further by integrating a photovoltaic roof, transforming the building into a ‘positive energy building’ (i.e. One which generates more energy than it consumes).
The overall principle is to choose environmentally-friendly materials, i.e those with low embodied energy.
