CSTB / Scientific Excellence

1 Scientific and technical excellence,
supporting the stakeholders of construction

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Testimonials

Learn about the strategic priorities of the CSTB in France and internationally, in these three interviews

"The challenges of research for the construction industry in the digital age."

Hervé Charrue

Deputy CEO
in charge of Research and Development

Demography, aging, social inequality, climate change, management of natural resources, as well as quality and comfort of living conditions...

"Priority on innovation and adapting the means to assess it."

Charles Baloche

Deputy CEO
in charge of Technological Activities

Although assessments are meant to inform construction industry stakeholders about the fitness for use of innovative products and systems, they also drive...

"Deploying the activities of the CSTB Group, in France and abroad."

Sylvie Ravalet

Deputy CEO
in charge of Strategy and Finance

The CSTB Group develops international structural partnerships, based on its multidisciplinary activities and skills, to serve the...

Energy & Environment

The CSTB has mobilized its expertise in Life Cycle Analysis and exploits the outcomes of its research on overall building performance as part of the new E₊C_- accreditation...

Health & Comfort

Anticipating health challenges, offering pleasant living spaces and ensuring the efficiency and safety of innovations (safety by design): this is why CSTB researcher are developing solutions...

Risk Mitigation

Due to climate change, buildings are affected by hazards such as heat waves, wind, storms and snow, which are evolving in terms of frequency and intensity. Meanwhile, innovation is...

Digital Technologies

The digital transition in the construction industry and territorial development is transforming the way things are done, improving the productivity and long-term performance of projects...

Economy & Uses

The CSTB guides the government in developing and assessing public policy in the construction sector. It is also looking to develop related economic forecasting indicators. At the same time...

Materials

The CSTB tests the high-temperature behavior of concrete

With new and extended lines, the Grand Paris Express metro system involves the construction of many tunnels and...

As part of an ambitious program of urban renewal in Stains (Paris Region), the public housing office of Seine-Saint-Denis and...

Stepped timber frame with invisible seams

Wooden beams make up the stepped structure of the huge roof covering the Aqualagon, the future water park of Marne-la-Vallée. The beams were made by Arbonis, using an innovative assembly technique, which received a favorable ATEx assessment in early 2016.

About 30 kilometers outside of Paris, Disneyland Paris and Pierre & Vacances - Center Parcs are building a vast tourism complex called Villages Nature®. Aqualagon will be one of its flagship facilities. Designed by...

Insulated concrete form walls:
four technological leaps

2016: The industrial companies GBE and Lafarge received a Technical Approval for a cast-in-situ wall with integrated insulation and concrete skin. This system has just taken its fourth technological leap, 20 years after the emergence of the first solution of its kind on the market.

In 1994, the CSTB reviewed an application by the Alsatian company Spurgin for a Technical Approval of its wall with...

Heat recovery from greywater, tested under real conditions

A research team of the CSTB worked on estimating the potential for instant heat recovery from greywater, thanks to the experimental installation...

In October 2015, WisElement, a VSE, took advantage of the CSTB’s innovation advisory and support service, Ariane. Since then, it has been...

Laboratory and on-site measurements: getting closer

Thermal and acoustic insulation made of recycled paper, or cellulose wadding, is used in loose fill or in panels in buildings. A study...

For the construction of the LUMA Foundation in Arles, Eiffage called upon the expertise of the CSTB. Its mission: study...

Dalkia and EDF sign a research partnership

Dalkia, EDF and the CSTB have signed a research partnership agreement on the mechanisms and prevention of limescale build-up in thermal systems and domestic hot water systems.

Very few studies to date have examined the problem of limescale build-up, although general research has been carried out to try to explain the mechanisms behind the formation of such deposits. The partnership agreement...

Innovative green roof for Lascaux IV

The Centre International de l’Art Pariétal Lascaux IV (International Centre for Cave Art), which exhibits a reproduction of a prehistoric cave with paintings, was inaugurated in December 2016. Its green roof blends into the wooded landscape of the Dordogne region. The roof’s steep slope required an inventive design: 700 bollards hold the insulation material and vegetation in place over a roof of 7000 m₂.

The roof of the new Lascaux IV building slopes up to 45%, whereas traditional construction rules provide for a maximum slope of 15% for green roofs....

How does the ETFE cushion canopy over Rosa Parks commuter rail station stand up to heavy rain?

The roofing of the new Rosa Parks commuter rail station on the RER E line in Paris uses ETFE-foil cushions, a light, translucent material. As part of an ATEx...

Mobile furnace
for fire tests
on tunnels

The CSTB has a mobile furnace, unique in France, capable of performing in situ fire tests on tunnel walls. The City of Paris requested testing of two tunnels of...

Toward a standard format for describing objects in digital models

The deployment of building information modeling (BIM) depends on its full adoption by all construction and urban development trades.

In digital models, BIM objects are virtual avatars of the industrial products that make up a building and its environment. Various characteristics (geometry, dimensions, thermal performance, acoustics, etc.) are linked to them...

Environment

Collective mobilization for the “E+C- Experimentation” initiative and its associated label

Jointly launched by public authorities and construction industry stakeholders in November 2016, the “E+C- Experimentation” initiative and its associated label evolved from several years of collective groundwork. As a partner, the CSTB contributed to the development of the benchmark, criteria, and desired performance levels. Backed by its expertise...

Ten years ago, who was paying attention to carbon efficiency? As part of the development of certification benchmarks put forward by environmental organizations with the support of the CSTB, E+C- Experimentation (E+ for positive energy...

Contextualize building design with OVALEC

The four partners pool their expertise to develop OVALEC, an R&D project to help stakeholders in the circular economy. Under this agreement...

Improving assessment of summer thermal comfort in timber-framed buildings

A study entrusted by the public authorities and timber companies to four partners – FCBA, Nobatek, Cerema and the CSTB – produced new...

The R&D projects of the ISABELE (In-Situ Assessment of the Building EnveLope pErformance) method are progressing to...

GRDF AND THE CSTB SIGN AN R&D PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

The purpose of the three-year partnership agreement signed by GRDF (Gaz Réseau Distribution France) and the CSTB in the summer of 2016 is to boost the performance of new and existing buildings, taking into account their energy systems.

The work will focus on: the thermal comfort of new buildings, by reducing their energy consumption and studying the most pertinent natural...

A five-year R&D partnership agreement, signed in January 2016, brings together 3F Group, the top social housing builder and operator in France...

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