RE2020 (FR)

RE2020 (Réglementation Environnementale 2020) is the French regulation framing the construction of new buildings. It replaces RT2012 and adds, on top of energy performance, two new dimensions: carbon footprint (50-year life-cycle assessment) and summer comfort.

Three main indicators: Bbio (bioclimatic need), Cep (primary-energy consumption), DH (degree-hours of summer overheating), Ic Construction (carbon impact of construction over 50 years), Ic Énergie (carbon impact of consumed energy).

Calculations rely on Environmental and Health Declaration Sheets (FDES) for materials, validated by the INIES program. Missing FDES are substituted by "penalized default values" that heavily penalize the calculation.

• Project owners and developers (they sign the RE2020 attestation when filing the building permit).
• Architects and thermal engineering offices (they calculate and document).
• Material suppliers (they provide FDES and declare them in the INIES program).

Scope covers residential and tertiary buildings (offices, primary and secondary education), with differentiated thresholds.

• 1 January 2022: entry into force, collective housing and detached houses.
• 1 July 2022: extension to tertiary (offices, education).
• 1 January 2025: Ic Construction tightening (640 → 530 kg CO₂eq/m²).
• 1 January 2028: Ic Construction tightening (530 → 415 kg).
• 1 January 2031: final target threshold, after last revision.

The RE2020 attestation is a mandatory part of the building permit. Without it, the permit is not issued; without the permit, the construction cannot start. After-the-fact control (at delivery) is rare, but breach of the attestation obligation can lead to permit nullity and open the door to neighbour appeals.

The real risk is commercial: a building non-compliant with RE2020 cannot be labeled E+C-, BBCA or equivalent, labels that are valuation levers for developers and social-housing operators.

• Real-time carbon calculation on the BIM model from APS stage (not only at DCE).
• Internal FDES library shared across projects, with validity, supplier, technical contact.
• One-click variant comparison (standard concrete / low-carbon concrete / recycled concrete) with carbon and economic impact.
• Automatic documentation of carbon reasoning for the DOE.