The ''Haute Qualité Environnementale'' or HQE (High Quality Environmental standard) is a standard for
green building
Green building (also known as green construction or sustainable building) refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from planni ...
in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, based on the principles of
sustainable development first set out at the 1992
Earth Summit
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio Conference or the Earth Summit (Portuguese: ECO92), was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from June 3 to June 14, 1992.
Earth Su ...
. The standard is controlled by the
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
-based ''Association pour la Haute Qualité Environnementale (ASSOHQE).''
Coverage
The standard specifies criteria for the following:
Managing the impacts on the outdoor environment
* Harmonious relationship between buildings and their immediate environment
* Integrated choice of construction methods and materials
* The avoidance of nuisance by the construction site.
*
Minimizing energy use
* Minimizing water use
* Minimizing waste in operations
* Minimizing building maintenance and repair
Creating a pleasant indoor environment
* Hydrothermal control measures
* Acoustic control measures
* Visual attractiveness
* Measures to control smells
* Hygiene and cleanliness of the indoor spaces
* Air quality controls
* Water quality controls
Future development
On 16 June 2009, it was announced that the CSTB ''(
Centre Scientifique et Technique du Batiment
The ''Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment'' (Scientific and Technical Center for Building) CSTB, is the French national organisation providing research and innovation, consultancy, testing, training and certification services in the cons ...
)'' and its subsidiary CertiVéA had signed a memorandum of understanding to work together with the global arm of the United Kingdom's
Building Research Establishment
The Building Research Establishment (BRE) is a centre of building science in the United Kingdom, owned by charitable organisation the BRE Trust. It is a former UK government national laboratory that was privatised in 1997. BRE provides resear ...
(BRE) to develop a pan-European building environmental assessment method. The BRE developed and markets (
BREEAM
BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method), first published by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) in 1990, is the world's longest established method of assessing, rating, and certifying the sustainability of ...
(the BRE Environmental Assessment Method), which has similarities to the French HQE. Unfortunately, BREEAM and HQE are still disseminating their own standards round the world, leaving little doubt that no pan-European method will emerge in the near future, at least stemming from these two organisations.
International development
Since 2013, the HQE brand is now available for buildings and districts worldwide.
As of 2016 HQE is present in 24 countries.
See also
*
Green building
Green building (also known as green construction or sustainable building) refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from planni ...
*
Sustainable architecture
*
Sustainable design
External links
*
Association pour la Haute Qualité Environnementale'
*
Sustainable Building Alliance'
References
Energy conservation in France
Building engineering
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
Sustainable building rating systems
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