Press Releases

April 2, 2024

Ecopark, a Positive Attitude

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Encouraged by the national "territory of industry" program, SMEs, PMIs, and craftsmen are in demand for buildings. A new park is being established to the east of Orleans metropolis, in the town of Marigny-les-Usages, within the Charbonnière technology park, and stands out by only including positive energy buildings.

Building is good, but there's no question of building anything other than smart and energy-efficient buildings. This is precisely the core business of SmartÉcopark, which is expected to complete the installation of an ecological park deliverable next August. A little more than two hectares of land on which 28 flex spaces are built, covering a total area of 6400 m².

In this regard, there is nothing extraordinary, except that this Écopark will be neutral in electricity consumption for air conditioning, heating, and domestic hot water, thanks to photovoltaic panels placed on roofs and shade structures. If the environment is obviously a winner with this process, so are the business leaders, as they will benefit from this free operation for their functioning.

On top of which, 48 charging stations for electric vehicles will be distributed across all parking spaces of the tenant companies. A small 1 GW power plant will operate for this purpose, and it should inject the additional current into the EDF network.

Six of the 28 available lots are already reserved. At 83 € per square meter per year, including electricity, the operation is interesting for the tenant as well as for Laurent Challet, the founding president of SmartÉcopark. "We go beyond just building eco-designed buildings, we are responding to a growing demand from regional companies and increasingly pressing needs."

The total investment approaches 10 million euros excluding tax, including of course double skin insulation in all buildings. Laurent Challet is not new to this, as he has already inaugurated five Écoparks in Bordeaux, and ten others are in development in Toulon, Mulhouse, Calais, Pau, and south of Tours.

Scarcity of land

Projects of this type are becoming increasingly difficult to carry out. Between the Zero Net Artificialization (ZAN), environmental concerns, and water laws, finding and developing land is becoming a real challenge. The Orleans metropolis, which manages 2,300 hectares of parks, including 500 of agricultural activity, must distribute construction while controlling wetlands and forest edges which are sensitive habitats, and which sometimes host fragile fauna and flora.

"It's important to welcome new companies," reminds Serge Grouard, president of Orléans Métropole, "but it's also essential to retain existing ones." The Lab'O, a startup incubator, has a number of them ready to take flight, and they too will need to establish themselves in the coming years.

Stéphane de Laage