Home » News » In 2020, things are moving in R&D around eco-responsible construction, and in particular with the Nobatek / Inef4 institute and the ISA BTP engineering school, which are working together …

In 2020, things are moving in R&D around eco-responsible construction, and in particular with the Nobatek / Inef4 institute and the ISA BTP engineering school, which are working together …

The applied research center and the UPPA engineering school, which launched their joint chair 3 years ago, have in particular the project on site to develop their joint laboratory dedicated to sustainable construction and architecture. and urban physics.


As we know: the Basque Country Community wants to make the Landes de Juzan district in Anglet a center of excellence in sustainable construction and building energy transition.

It relies on the players in the sector such as the Nobatek / Inef4 applied research center, the ISA BTP engineering school (Institut Supérieur Aquitain du BTP, establishment of the University of Pau and the Pays de l’Adour ), the Arkinova activity generator (nursery and incubator), the Cantau high school and the Fédération Compagnonnique des Métiers du Bâtiment. All these structures are grouped together over an area of ​​over 40 hectares.


And on the spot, we can say that things are moving a lot this year. We first learned in June that Nobatek / Inef4, recently described in the press by its CEO André Falchi as ” generator of solutions for the energy transition of construction », Would benefit from 8 million euros of state aid for the period 2020-2023, while still benefiting from the support of the Region and the Basque conurbation.

This envelope will allow the center to ” starting this year 9 collaborative R&D projects involving its teams, industrial partners, associates, joint university research teams, and its Cercle Promodul / Inef4 endowment fund ».


Two beautiful student projects …

In addition, the center is continuing to develop its Bordeaux branch on the Talence campus. Since last year, for example, a project has been running around the “bio-inspired design” of building envelopes, with the support of the I2M and Mecadev laboratories. More generally, a joint research team with the University of Bordeaux is working on various subjects related to the performance of buildings. It should be remembered that Nobatek / Inef4 is one of the 8 ITE (Institutes for Energy Transition) recognized by the State, and the only one in its field.

And then Nobatek / Inef4 continues to be involved in concrete projects: the center announced in September that it was one of the winning teams for two future constructions, namely the new gymnasium of the Largenté school complex (Bayonne) and the Amikuze low-carbon health center (Saint-Palais). Two projects led by XB Architects, partners of SCIC Nobatek / Inef4. But beyond that, the center operates throughout France and even on a European scale, via the Horizon 2020 framework program for research and innovation (of which the center is a major coordinator with 17 grant contracts).


Two beautiful student projects …

On the ISA BTP side, the school welcomed its 21st class in September. The establishment is growing and now has 300 students, including about fifty newcomers, mostly entering the first year. For the engineering school, the major project will be that of the future “Isa Lab”, which will consist of an extension of 4,750 m2 of the current premises, which is enough to accommodate new training spaces (lecture halls, classrooms and public works, offices, etc.) and research (laboratories). Work will begin soon, with a view to delivery before March 2022.

This work should make it possible to support the ambitions of the UPPA (one of the 8 medium-sized universities benefiting from the I-Site label) in terms of joint research with companies and specialized structures … such as Nobatek / Inef4, with which develop a joint laboratory on sustainable construction, in line with the joint chair launched in 2017.


The establishment headed by Christian La Borderie hopes to take advantage of the current dynamics of research related to buildings to add 3 new chairs to the 3 that already exist (urban physics, CO2 storage, numerical simulation applied to coastal protection).

One of these new chairs will be dedicated to construction materials, with the support of Materr’up, a startup from Saint-Geours-de-Maremne specializing in the formulation of low-carbon concrete. The leader of ISA BTP explained that the teachers for these new chairs would be recruited early next year.


Finally, while more and more “tech” players are interested in the world of construction, the establishment is also working on 4.0 construction and the integration of artificial intelligence on construction sites.

A whole program, therefore, for the players in the Anglet center of excellence dedicated to buildings and their energy transition. And we can all the more salute these efforts and initiatives since it was necessary during all this time to adapt to the health climate …

More information on the websites nobatek.inef4.com and on isabtp.univ-pau.fr

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