The Smictom du Pays de Fougères built a new waste disposal and recycling plant to replace their old facility. The building was designed to high environmental standards, including a wooden frame, insulation from recycled materials, solar panels, and a solar facade system called Lucido. While pioneering some technologies, the building achieved positive energy production and met most of its goals, though some systems like the solar panels did not perform as estimated. Lessons were learned around technical choices, coordination between trades, and ensuring user needs were met.

1. 84
The first French public building
labelled Minergie®.
Key dates
Design : january 2007 to
september 2008
Construction : september
2008 to january 2010
Smicton handles the waste of 51 neighbouring boroughs having a
combined total of more than 74 000 residents. The project illustrates the
desire of the Trade Union Committee (Comité Syndical) and locally elected
representatives to build an exemplary waste disposal and recycling plant
to cover many issues - technical, environmental, energy, and social.
Introduction
Saint Brieuc
Quimper
Vannes
Rennes
Javené
Smictom du Pays de Fougères
Overview - Photo © Pays de Fougères

2. www.libnam.eu 2
Context
The capacity of the old waste
disposal plant at Fougères had
reached its limit and there was
an urgent need to move to a
new location to centralise all the
activities of the Smictom region.
The Chair of the union and the local
representatives decided to manage
the project under the High Quality
Environmental standard (HQE).
The construction should, in effect,
be coherent with the message
conveyed to residents (sorting
recyclable waste, waste reduction
etc). The High Quality Environmental
standard (HQE) helped them fix
their design objectives, namely:
• Limit the building’s footprint, while
anticipating a possible extension.
• Provide an efficient building with
greater energy production than
requirements.
• Utilise and collect rainwater.
• Very little environmental impact
during the demolition of the
building through the use of recycled
or recyclable materials.
• Social integration in the operation
of the recycling centre.
• Cost control of construction.
Building overview
It was the first French public building
to receive the Swiss certification
Minergie®.
The building is wooden framed,
clad with local, rough-cut, chestnut.
The southern wall is insulated with
Plan © Architecte Liard & Tanguy

3. French-British collective Libnam3
wood fibre, the exterior walls and
interior stud walls are insulated
with Metisse® (recycled fibres
from textile collections provided
by the association «Le Relais»), the
foundation beams were insulated
with glass foam (or cellular glass)
a rot proof product available loose,
in granular form, or as rigid panels.
The south walls were covered with
Lucido®; a process to increase
passive solar gain. This choice was
made after a visit to Switzerland
organised by the association
ABIBOIS. The zinc-panelled roof
was covered in solar panels. Finally
thermal collectors were included to
cover some of the hot water needs,
whilst a wood-chip burner with a
back boiler provided the rest of
the hot water needs. A dual flow,
heat recovery system provides very
efficient ventilation. The building
makes full use of water-saving
materials.
Technical Focus :
Lucido®
The solar facade, Lucido®, absorbs
and stores solar energy to create a
warm buffer between the building
and the ambient temperature,
reducing heat loss from walls.
This solar facade is composed of
solar glass (typically 4 mm), a 16 mm
air gap, a 40 mm thick wooden heat
absorber (typically larch or fir) and
an insulating wall. This technology
makes use of the «phase-change»
qualities of wood accumulated by
Timber frame - Photo © SMICTOM
Lucido®

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the greenhouse effect. «Phase-
change» denotes the time it takes
for heat to travel from the outside
to the inside of a building, passing
through the insulation.
The sun’s rays heat the wooden heat
absorber and travel through the wall
in 4 to 12 hours, according to the
supplier. The heat then penetrates
into the inside of the building.
The procedure allows a reduction
in heat loss on sunny days during
winter, while performing its role as
an efficient insulation on other days.
This system was not problematic
to install. However, it is expensive,
requiring a specialised consulting
firm to «fine tune» the process.
Furthermore, the different
elements of the system are made in
Switzerland. Despite the technical
qualities of the system the architect
has never reused it in any further
projects.
Barriers and solutions
At the organizational and human
level : The building was built
between 2008 and 2009. At that
time, the principle and techniques of
air tightness were little understood,
even misunderstood. Experience
has shown that air tightness tests
and dynamic thermal studies should
be done by people independent to
the actual project.
The project owner and project
supervisor were lucky to work with
a team leader from the company
Volutique (a plasterboard (or
drywall) craftsman) who filled the
role of foreman on a continual
basis. He was very demanding
on his colleagues and equally as
demanding with the other trades.
On the technical side : This
project was in advance of national
Luccido® wall - Photo © Pays de Fougères

5. French-British collective Libnam5
requirements and it was not
always easy to make technical
choices. Because of the number of
consulting firms involved, advice
differed on the effects and expected
results of technical solutions. This
project remains a forerunner of
“new” technologies and techniques,
as well as the requisite level of air
tightness.
As for water saving, TRIVALOR
(consulting firm) proposed to
recapture the water used as the
2nd wash for lorries and then use
this water as the 1st wash during
the following clean. The idea was
abandoned because of the amount
of organic material in the water and
the high level of chemical impurities.
On the regulatory and insurance
level : The companies signed a
«Green Site» charter «Chantier
Vert». «Green Site» agreements are
principally a means to manage the
environmental impact generated by
the different activities on site (waste
management, noise reduction,
etc.). This charter was hard to
manage alongside a Common
Costs Allocation system «compte
prorata».
Training : Training was provided
by Olivier Clerc, of the company
EVALYS (blower door tests), to raise
awareness among the craftsmen on
site. During the design and planning
stage he focused on sensitive issues.
After the construction phase the
checks put into place allowed errors
and oversights to be corrected.
This method is very effective and
educational.
Mr Liard, the project supervisor,
also came to the site to explain to
the workmen the ideas behind the
working principles of the building,
to heighten their awareness and try
to influence their future behaviour.
Timber cladding - Photo © SMICTOM

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Energy results of the space
heated in kWh/m2/year
2010 2011 2012
Electricity used 18 19 20
Electricity produced 33 30 29
Heating used (wood) 28 27 20
The results of the building during
the last 3 years, all forms of
energy included, is positive. It
produced 5 kW/m²/year. The solar
energy production was lower than
estimated by the initial studies
(54 kWh/m²/year) and suffers a
slight but steady decline due to
the malfunction of some panels.
Performance
Electricity consumption increased
with the addition of a garage
and an area to dry work clothes.
Initially, the idea was to recuperate
the heat from the boiler room and
the room containing the inverters,
situated beside the laundry room
but fire regulations prevented
the installation of this system. As
a consequence electric tumble
The feedback : The organisation
of the building was designed in the
interests of comfort, ease of use and
energy efficiency. Unfortunately,
the practical and functional side
between different services was not
sufficiently taken into account.
The hot water pipe network is very
long due to technical reasons (the
position of the wood burner at one
extremity of the building), and as a
consequence it is necessary to run
the water for a long time before
getting hot water from the tap.
The distribution manifolds for the
heating system were positioned
within one of the offices, which in
consequence is often overheated.
The lighting is «user friendly»
(motion detectors, brightness
control depending on the ambient
light) but the bulbs used (compact
fluorescent) were not adapted to
short cycles of use, which in turn
increased the budget devoted to
them. The automation of lighting
deprives the user of responsibility.
The linoleum flooring, laid in the
technical / working areas, was not
Energy results
a wise choice because it is not
adapted for trolley use, safety shoes,
and small stones.
In an innovative project of this
type, there is the need of a project
supervisor who is both technically
and politically motivated.

7. French-British collective Libnam7
Stakeholders
Project owners : SMICTOM du Pays de
Fougères
Project supervisor : Architecte DPLG : LIARD
& TANGUY (Rennes)
Site coordinator : ECC Engineering (Saint
Ave)
Consulting firm (Electricity, plumbing,
heating, and liquids) : ECC Engineering
Consulting firm (Reinforced concrete) :
EDSBAT (Surzur)
Building surveyor : Qualiconsult (Saint
Grégoire)
Consulting firm (Carpentry) : Synergie bois
(Cholet)
Quantity Surveyor : Cabinet BAGOT
(Rennes)
Consulting firm (Roads and utilities) : B31
(Nantes)
Health and Safety : ECIE ( Fougères)
Blower door tests : Evalys ( Brest)
Consulting firm (Thermal + feasibility
studies) : Inddigo (Nantes)
Structural work + interior joinery : Heude
bâtiment (Ernee)
Timber framework : SAS Belliard Frères
(Gorron)
Metalworking – Locksmithing : SMIO
(Fougères)
Wooden cladding : SCOB (Mordelles)
Insulation, plastering, studwork : Volutique
(Melesse)
Roofing (zinc-waterproofing) : Quemard
SAS (Langueux)
Flexible floor coverings : Pinto (Fougères)
Subcontractor (photovoltaic cells) : Facilasol
(Dol de Bretagne)
Glued floor coverings, tiling : Leblois (Saint
James)
Decoration (Painting – Wallcoverings) :
Pinto (Fougères)
Heating, ventilation, hot-water solar
panels : Galle SAS (Romagne)
Furniture - Seats (amphitheater) : Mussidan
sièges (Mussidan)
Electricity (low current) : Lafosse électricité
(Torigni sur vire)
Solar facade : IC Bois (La Gouesnière )
Roads and utilities, landscaping : Sotrav
(Fougères)
Cleaning : Breiz services Fougères
(Fougères)
Plumbing, sanitary equipment : Galle SAS
(Romagne)
Suspended ceilings : Volutique (Melesse)
dryers were put in place. Even so,
the electricity produced remains
significantly higher than the
electricity used.
The comparison between the
thermal studies and the energy bills
is complex to work out because
certain areas cannot be separated
(for example the wood heating
systemalsosupplementsthethermal
collectors during the heating of the
hot water). Nevertheless we can do
the following analysis :
The heating needs estimated, from
the thermodynamic simulations,
were 28 kWh/m²/year. In practical
terms the actual consumption
was less. The decrease in 2012 is
misleading because the silo was still
full at the beginning of the heating
season. This naturally «increases»
the heating needs of 2011 and
«decreases» those of 2012. The year
2010 was mild compared to the
previous 2 years which explains the
notable decrease in heating needs.
Rainwater represents ⅔ of the
total consumption. The biggest use
of this rainwater was during the
washing of the dumper trucks. The
rainwater was collected and stocked
in two underground reservoirs each
22 m³.

8. 8
Costs
Project supervisor : £344,721
Roads and utilities, landscaping : £871,959
Structural work : £419,610
Interior joinery : £144,512
Timber framework : £481,620
Metalworking – Locksmithing : £203,404
Wooden cladding : £312,954
Insulation, plastering, studwork : £264,884
Roofing (zinc-waterproofing),
Subcontractor (photovoltaic cells) :
£888,028
Flexible floor coverings : £27,431
Glued floor coverings, tiling : £29,422
Decoration (Painting – Wallcoverings) :
£42,799
Heating, ventilation, hot-water solar
panels : £158,925
Electricity (low current) : £195,337
Solar façade, Exterior joinery : £221,248
Cleaning : £3,396
Plumbing, sanitary equipment : £95,439
Suspended ceilings : £23,074
Seats (amphitheater) : £12,686
These invoice amounts includes the
construction of the headquarters of
SMICTOM waste disposal and the recycling
plant. Each invoice would need to ensure
the construction of the two facilities.
Surface area : 3026 sq m
Total without charges : £3,879,638
Giving a cost of £1,282 per sq m
Total with charges included : £4741449
Giving a cost of £1,566 per sq m
Landscaping - Photo © Pays de Fougères
Contact
Pays de Fougères
www.pays-fougeres.org