The ‘Ancienne Papeterie’, an exemplary eco-district in Marly

The municipality of Marly is innovating with an ambitious project: building an eco-district that meets all the criteria of an exemplary environmental approach, called SEED®. Its purpose? That each inhabitant does not consume more than what planet Earth can offer in the long term. BG offers its assistance in setting up the SEED® process and makes its expertise in sustainable development and more specifically in energy matters available to the client. A first for the canton of Fribourg.

A city within a city. This could be the name of the new eco-district “Ancienne Papeterie” in Marly, which is emerging in the canton of Fribourg. But a city not quite like the others. Indeed, this very innovative achievement follows an exemplary environmental approach called SEED® – formerly ‘One Planet Living® OPL’ – which aims to ensure that each inhabitant does not consume more than what one and only one planet Earth can offer them in the long term. “By comparison, the use of natural resources in European countries is about three times greater than what our Earth can provide”, explains Mario Germano, head of the “Buildings, Energy and Territories” Business Unit at BG. “This approach is also fully compatible with the 2000 Watt Society project.” It should be noted that Marly is one of the first three districts in Switzerland to benefit from the SEED® designation, 2 of these 3 projects having been driven by BG.

Historically, the municipality of Marly, which is part of the agglomeration of Fribourg, was awarded “Cité de l’Énergie” (Label for Energy-efficient Communities) in 2013. It recently revised its local development plan

according to the main principles of sustainable development and imposed in its municipal planning regulations the obligation of sustainable labelling for districts of a certain size. The “Ancienne Papeterie” district is part of this approach.

The new eco-district will include, in its first stage, 360 apartments which will accommodate 800 inhabitants and create 126 jobs on the banks of the Gérine river in the “Ancienne Papeterie” district, located next to the former industrial site of Ilford, for an investment estimated at 150 million Swiss francs. This new district will change the face of Marly. It will house around 25% of the population of the municipality and will bring added value in terms of quality of life. “In the case of Marly, the project foresees efficient energy solutions that make it possible to reach SEED® energy goals from the first step,” states Mario Germano. Delivery of the project is scheduled for 2021. To ensure a consistent and smooth implementation, this ambitious project needs broad and specialised skills. This is why the Project owner called on BG to help them in their approach.

First of all, BG provides assistance in the implementation of the SEED® process by coordinating the various agents and stakeholders. This involves in particular the preparation of a heat audit, including all administrative procedures with the official services, advice on construction materials that meet OPL requirements, calculations of energy needs to meet these same requirements, the set-up of technical solutions, advice to the architect, the management of works or the follow-up of execution principles.

BG is also entrusted with a building physics and energy mission and must ensure that Principle 01 ‘Zero carbon’ and Principle 10 ‘Quality of life and well-being’ of the SEED® approach are achieved or exceeded. It is about ensuring, among other things, that primary energy consumption and CO2 emissions per person do not exceed thresholds defined in the tripartite agreement signed between the Client, the municipality of Marly and the SEED® Committee.

The supply of heat for heating and domestic hot water will be carried out via a district heating network. The heat production plant will be built on the site and will benefit from:

  • water-water heat pumps, with the water from Lake Gruyère as an energy reservoir,
  • a connection to the district heating network of Fribourg area. This district heating network is supplied primarily by the Saidef waste incineration plant, as well as by various decentralised plants along the network,
  • one or two gas boilers (for peak demands and for redundancy).

The construction of production facilities will be phased in depending on changes in demand. The eco-district will be supplied with 90% renewable heat upon completion of its construction. “The aim of such a sustainable district is for it to meet current needs without compromising those of future generations,” says Mario Germano. “So it’s about managing the resources, be they energetic or material, in order to avoid depleting them in the long term.”

The approach must be comprehensive. It is made possible by multidisciplinary skills present in the BG group. In this case, it includes analyses on the following themes: reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, implementation of sustainable means of transport, use of local and sustainable materials, promotion of local and sustainable food, sustainable water management, preservation of biodiversity and natural habitats, while respecting the heritage and culture of the region, equity and local partnerships as well as a high quality of life for the inhabitants.

But why label such a district? “The labelling will make it possible to follow the objectives during all the construction phases and during all the stages of the development of the district,” answers Mario Germano. “The label or rather ‘appellation’ is not acquired once and for all, but requires verification of objectives throughout the life of the district.” An exemplary case of “continuous quality monitoring”.

IMAGES : ©Magizan & CCHE
(Article taken from BG Magazine 2021, updated version on the site)