Toulouse Métropole winner of the TERRITORIA 2023 award for its Toulouse Aerospace eco-district and GA Smart Building’s low-carbon head office

Toulouse Métropole’s ambition is to be at the forefront of a virtuous urban development, aiming at decarbonising operations. On the Toulouse Aerospace eco-district, Toulouse Métropole has – via its public developer Oppidea – entered into a partnership with GA Smart Building, setting strong environmental goals to be achieved for the building of its future head office, a showcase low-carbon building. The Group’s offices will be in line with RE2020 at the 2025 threshold, and will reach an energy performance level which is in line with what is anticipated in 2050 by the French Tertiary Decree to reduce energy consumption. The real estate complex is also aiming for several labels and certifications (HQE Sustainable Building Excellent level, BEPOS Effinergie 2017, OsmoZ, R2S, BiodiverCity, Accessibility). This tertiary building with great qualities for use uses a range of unprecedented decarbonisation techniques and technologies:

• 100% French off-site construction method;
• Energy excellence with the hybridisation of local, renewable and low-carbon energies;
• Low-carbon and biosourced materials: low-carbon concretes, timber 3D sanitary modules, active and mixed timber/concrete slabs that emit up to seven times less CO2 than traditional slabs, timber frames and biosourced materials (cork);
• Reused materials (false floors, carpets, tiles, railings, etc.): the future GA Smart Building head office is a Circolab label pilot and is one of the projects selected to receive the support of the European LIFE Waste2Build programme for the circular economy.

Through this showcase project, Toulouse Métropole demonstrates that it is possible to be on a low-carbon trajectory, in particular due to the environmental performance of the buildings.

This project complements the initiatives already taken in the Toulouse Aerospace development. Labelled eco-neighbourhood (level 2) and selected in the “EcoCité” programme launched by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Banque des territoires, Toulouse Aerospace is a new district in the southeast of Toulouse that has strong environmental ambitions. A 90% renewable energy-fuelled heat network (heat recovered from waste incineration) powers all buildings in the district. Ten hectares of green space and more than 3,500 trees and shrubs will be planted in the long term, especially along the old renovated Aéropostale runway, to mitigate the effects of urban heat. A structured public transport service, with the presence of two metro stations by 2028 and the development of cycle paths, will also allow a 15% reduction in car travel by 2030.

For Annette LAIGNEAU, vice-president of Toulouse Métropole, in charge of urban planning and urban projects, “The TERRITORIA award rewards our efforts in sustainable cities, low-carbon real estate and energy transition. On the Toulouse Aerospace eco-district – as on all in Toulouse Métropole developments – our level of requirement is set beyond the RE2020 energy regulations so that we are always ahead of schedule, our aim being to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050. The expected levels of performance of the real estate programmes contribute significantly to carbon reduction and the environmental qualities – as well as the qualities of use – of the building developed by GA Smart Building are a good example to follow.”

For Sébastien MATTY, Chairman of GA Smart Building, “We are proud to play our part in the realisation of Toulouse Aerospace, the new cultural and economic hub of the Occitan metropolis, with our future head office that has been designed as a true living space, open to its neighbourhood. It will be the demonstration of a French decarbonised and off-site building, our trademark.”