Hermès Leather Goods Factory in Louviers Earns E4C2 Certification

The Hermès Leather Goods Factory (Maroquinerie Hermès) in Louviers, designed by Lina Ghotmeh, has been awarded E+C- certification (level E4C2). This makes it the first industrial building to be awarded France’s highest environmental label!

To find out more, read the Dezeen article here.

The building's strengths?

The building’s strengths

• France’s 1st BEPOS - E4C2 industrial building
  
• Carbon sobriety:
  750 kgCO2/m² (C2 level – 15%)
  Comparative carbon analysis of local brickworks
  500,000 handmade terracotta bricks and reuse of offcuts for exterior cladding
  160 m3 of solid wood from French sustainably managed forests (PEFC)
  Decarbonized energy < 2 kgCO2/m²/year
  
• Energy sobriety & efficiency:
  Bioclimatic optimization of the envelope (parametric design of workshops, CFD studies, etc.)
  Integration of passive comfort features (natural ventilation, low-emissivity blinds, accessible inertia, etc.).
  Detailed energy simulation taking into account process consumption and inputs
  Geothermal heating/cooling production with BTES probes (inter-seasonal thermal storage)
  Photovoltaic production > Total site electricity consumption
  Heat recovery from cold rooms for DHW production
  ENR&R rate > 70
  
• Environmental stewardship:
  Gold level achieved using the Hermès Sustainable Construction guidelines
  Green building site (80% of waste recycled, 95% local companies)
  Air quality guaranteed by reception tests (VOCT, Formaldehydes, PM10)
  40% water savings compared to standard leather goods
  Positive biodiversity (native and melliferous plants, berry bushes, beehives)
  Drafting of a user guide (educating people about thermal comfort and cladding)

Congratulations to Bilel Ben Brahim, Ayoub El Homaini, Anne H., Nina Mahé-Rome, and Mathilde Poirier for their participation in this project, and to Kévin Bâcle for seeing it through to the end.