ArcelorMittal powers an innovative self-heating building: Passivhaus in Châlons-en-Champagne

ArcelorMittal contributed to this innovative construction project in France. It is a passive house building, an energy efficient building in compliance with the Passivhaus label, which uses solar energy and the heat produced by home appliances and residents to regulate the indoor temperature. It is one of the first Passivhaus buildings built with metal facades and ArcelorMittal Construction France proudly contributed to this project by supplying steel trapezoidal profiles.

Detailed information

Steel profiles: combining cost-efficiency and aesthetic qualities

The Passivhaus building in the city of Châlons-en-Champagne is publicly-owned housing composed of 12 apartments. It is part of the Buildtog (Building Together) programme, aiming to build accommodation in accordance with the energy efficiency German label 'Passivhaus'. A passive house is a building standard that is truly energy efficient, comfortable, affordable, and ecological at the same time.

Jean-Michel Boulestin from ArcelorMittal Construction France, advisor on this project, advised the customers to use our Trapeza steel profiles as they were looking for the best solution, combining cost-efficiency and aesthetic qualities. Thus, making it one of the first Passivhaus buildings to be built with a metallic facade.

The building facade and roof are cladded with plain and perforated Trapeza 8.125.25B and 8.125.25T steel trapezoidal profiles produced in Haironville. They are coated with Kristal®, which offers strong corrosion resistance and a light-reflecting finish with a long-term shiny appearance.

Zero heat loss

Thanks to the Buildtog project, energy savings of 80% are possible compared with a regular building (thanks to the Passivhaus PHPP calculation tool), but without extra cost and while maintaining architectural quality.

The objective is to create low-energy houses that allow conventional space heating to be omitted.

Several measures were taken to make sure no heat is lost:

  •     solar energy and heat produced by home appliances and residents are used to regulate the indoor temperature
  •     the building is equipped with a heat pump to draw the calories present in the water tables
  •     exterior insulation thanks to facade cladding made of insulation and steel profiles

Passivhaus buildings are a sustainable, comfortable, and affordable housing solution

In terms of architecture, the orientation of the apartments offers natural thermal regulation during summer and winter. The north-west side is oriented towards the traffic lane and the rear facade with views to the garden is fully open on the outside, which allows for maximum solar contribution. The percentage of opening on the front differs according to the orientations and the presence of a system of occultations allows the regulation of the solar contributions according to the seasons.

Overall, Passivhaus buildings are a sustainable, comfortable, and affordable housing solution. They offer optimum thermal performances which are much higher than the current standards and anticipate future regulations. There are currently more than 25 000 Passivhaus buildings in the world and their numbers continue to increase each year.

Project information

  • Châlons-en-Champagne
  • France
  • 2015
  • Architect:
    EXP Architectes
  • Engineering office:
    Ingeba (structure), MCI Thermiques (Thermal), Prima (economy), Ingeba (Fluids, thermal), Luwogue Consult Gmbh (Assistance project management)
  • Photos:
    © EXP Architectes
  • Text:
    ArcelorMittal Europe Communications