IHES develops… sustainably!

Every year, researchers from all over the world come to IHES to benefit from its exceptional working environment. Welcoming them in optimal conditions so that they can devote themselves fully to their work is at the heart of the Institute’s mission.

Since it settled in Bures-sur-Yvette, IHES has constantly improved its infrastructure, which includes the buildings in Bois Marie, dedicated to the scientific activity, as well as the accommodation infrastructure in the Ormaille residence, which the Institute has set up to house its researchers on site.

Since 2000, a vast renovation plan has been implemented thanks, among other sponsors, to the support of the Ile-de-France Regional Council and the decisive support of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC), which helped create an “infrastructure fund” as part of the Institute’s endowment.

The actions implemented since then are part of a wider sustainable development strategy that includes improving building insulation, as well as opting for more efficient heating and lighting systems in offices, conference rooms, and housing. All exterior lighting at the Ormaille has also been converted to LED.

More recently, as part of the Plan de relance launched by the French government in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Institute obtained €785k from the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Recovery for the renovation of 6 of the 18 studios in one of the buildings in the Ormaille residence. The planned measures will result in an important reduction in the environmental impact of these apartments, through a 60% decrease in their energy consumption, as calculated by the project management team that IHES called upon to meet its housing improvement objectives. The flats will thus go from class D to class B as per the energy label, and from class F to class D on the carbon label.

These actions are part of an ambitious six-year rehabilitation program for the large building of the Ormaille residence, in which IHES is partnered by the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS). The program involves improving the building’s energy performance (insulation, exterior woodwork, airtightness) and technical equipment (ventilation, production, distribution and emission of heating, domestic hot water and electricity) as well as the interior renovation of the housing units.

As the number of visitors has been reduced since last year due to the global health situation, the Institute could accelerate these projects and much progress has been made since the Spring of 2020.

The benefits will be multifold: an optimization of operating costs, a modernization that allows the Institute to act within a sustainable development strategy and even better conditions for researchers. This will contribute to strengthening the attractiveness of the Institute, as well as that of its partners in the region, in particular the Université Paris-Saclay, which uses six of the 57 housing units at the Ormaille.