GSE Design and Build

Ecoparc is the new building concept with an environmentally-friendly and user-friendly emphasis.

Ecoparc combines upgradeability, ecology, and sound economics.

The GSE innovative building & design Challenge is an architectural and engineering competition sponsored by the GSE Group within the scope of its Research & Development activity on design and construction of industrial/commercial buildings.

This competition is aimed at architecture students in their Master’s year and at engineering students in their final two years of college.

... and the things to consider when installing skylights on warehouses to bring in daylight.

Lighting is responsible for 80 % of the electrical consumption in a warehouse. Starting from the vantage point that the cheapest energy is energy which is not consumed, a think tank analysed daylight distribution in an Optima warehouse designed by GSE.

Within the scope of its policy to intensify R&D activity, the GSE Group has demonstrated its pro-active attitude to sustainable development by creating a subsidiary that will be concentrating on the development of “turnkey” photovoltaic plants integrated in the rooftops of industrial and logistics buildings. 

With the launch of this new activity, the GSE Group provides its clients both in France and abroad with the possibility of obtaining an integrated offer which combines building construction with the installation of a photovoltaic plant.

Throughout 2008, the GSE Newsletter will be featuring the solutions applied within the scope of the Ecoparc-design buildings.

February 2008 looks at the rooftop installation of photovoltaic panels.

3D Modelling is not new as it has been used in the automotive and avionic industry for the last 40 years, and is being used in the construction industry for complex projects. For example, all projects by the prestigious Norman Foster Architects are designed in 3D.

BIM (Building Information Modelling) is an extension of the 3D model to involve all parties in the design team allowing revision and design development to be fully coordinated.

The Ecoparc building concept, integrating environmental concerns and user comfort, focuses on upgradability, ecology and economics. The very first Ecoparc projects are under construction, and on 16 November 2007, the first stone was laid on the Agroparc site in Avignon, marking the construction of a 3,500-m² office building based on sustainable development standards.

Throughout upcoming 2008, the GSE Newsletter will be looking at each and every solution implemented in these Ecoparc buildings, describing one-by-one the Ecoparc concepts, such as the photovoltaics, the wood structure, the finishings, the external lighting, the rainwater recovery system… all part of the ongoing “Ecoparc Saga” !

Ecoparc is an innovation from the Compagnie des Contractants Régionaux
(the Regional Contractors’ Company),
a subsidiary of the GSE Group.

The many different materials used in the construction of a building are not all equal in terms of environmental impact.

• At the start, these construction materials are made from raw materials such as ores, oil, wood, or plant origin.
• Then, these materials require energy consumption, first to transform and process them, then to transport and use them.
• And, in the choice of materials, you have to also look at the impact from dismantling them and their end-of-life impact (recycling, destruction).

As the environment takes on increasing importance and demands our attention, GSE has prepared an analysis of this impact, on a material-by-material basis… and the results can be surprising.