The Voiron demonstration site of E2REBUILD project is a multi-storey building in the department of Isère. The building was made of concrete with no insulation, it had natural ventilation and the windows were first-generation PVC double-glazing 4-6-4. All dwellings had an individual gas boiler for domestic hot water production, but each dwelling had its own different heat production – either electric heaters (ca. 29 dwellings with an energy demand of 529 kWh/m² year) or fossil fuel boilers (c. 43 dwellings with an energy demand of 202 kWh/m² year).

The neighborhood of Arlequin in Grenoble is a 1970s residential development of 1800 dwellings in a high-rise complex within a larger district called Villeneuve. The buildings range from 6 to 15 storeys and have a concrete structure with two kinds of façades: light pre-fabricated concrete modules and heavy modules. The neighborhood was born from an urban utopia, with an ambitious target of social mixture and an innovative architecture. The objective was to provide the inhabitants with a huge park and several public spaces in close vicinity to their dwellings.

As a major player in the Local Climate Plan since 2004 and as a Covenant of Mayors’ member since 2008, the city of Grenoble is committed to reducing energy consumption, encouraging the use of renewable energies, promoting social solidarity, setting up alternative forms of transport and developing environmental, architectural and urban quality. The main objectives of the Grenoble Local Climate Plan, launched in 2004, and revised in 2009, remain the reduction of local greenhouse gas emissions by factor 4 by 2050.

One of six European cities joining forces to accelerate the path towards a sustainable future by creating model urban areas.