Sustainable building
VMZINC Solutions: a better environmental profile than the average of equivalent certified buildings.
Assessment of the environmental quality of an office building in France which received “Commercial Building - HQE® Approach” certification, revealed the high environmental performance of the zinc envelope system used (VMZ Standing seam in ANTHRA-ZINC). An opportunity to learn some lessons with which to demonstrate the pertinence of VMZINC solutions in the area of sustainable building.
Impact criteria
The first result of the environmental assessment of the building demonstrates that for the vast majority of impact criteria (water and energy consumption, waste, …), the profile of the Standing seam solution in ANTHRA-ZINC is more efficient than that of the reference building.
The “Elodie” calculation tool used made it possible to compare the environmental profile of the building with the profile of the reference building (corresponding to the average of environmental profiles of equivalent buildings, i.e. buildings having received “Commercial buildings – HQE Approach” certification.)
Grey energie
The second result of the environmental assessment reveals that although it is metal, the 3,700 m² envelope in ANTHRA-ZINC has a minor impact on the building's grey energy (*). When the “Overall consumption of primary energy” is considered alone, it is possible to assess the contribution of all building products used to the building's grey energy. We can observe that the 3,700 m² of zinc only represent 6% of grey energy, way behind the building carcass which represents 36%, flexible flooring 17% and joinery 12%.
(*) Grey energy: the energy required for the manufacture, transport, lifespan and elimination of a building product and/or a building.
Global warming
It also emerges that the 3,700 m² of VMZINC solutions only contribute to 1.6 % of the impact on global warming due to the manufacture of all the building products used in this building.
