Introduction to eco-certified business parks in the Paris Region

On March 7th and 8th, 2011, the Paris Region was pleased to host its Interreg Ecrein+ Programme European partner regions.

This Paris Region's stage in the programme (led by the Rhône-Alpes Region) was devoted to the issue of business parks inside and around European metropolitan areas. It provided an opportunity to present the region's initiatives in favour of business parks, using a variety of tangible examples of Paris Region eco-parks (Vaux-le-Pénil, Sénart, Paris Nord2 and Les Portes du Vexin), as well as putting forward the perspective of eco-certified business park enhancement via the Econovista mapping instrument, using a method that was developed by PREDA together with its partners.

A very attentive audience appreciated the region's unique approach, which uses requalification and organisational instruments to focus on improving existing conditions in order to provide a wide range of businesses with fully renovated places to settle in.

Jean-Paul Planchou - 3rd Vice-Chairman of the Île-de-France Regional Council in charge of Economic Development, Employment, New Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Tourism, Innovation and Social and Interdependent Economy - closed the session by repositioning this topic within the range of issues to be addressed in preparing the future SRDEI (Regional Strategy on Economic Development and Innovation).

Photo credit:

Ecopôle de Sénart © EPA Sénart Communication
Paris Nord2 © Seine-Saint-Denis Avenir

Paris Region mapped out for you:

Discover the interactive map of Paris Region eco-certified business parks on Econovista.com, the interactive economic map of Paris Region.

Econovista.com puts a map of the sustainable districts of Paris Region online

This new map identifies urban planning projects which aim to integrate sustainable development objectives and to reduce the ecological footprint of the region. These districts were the winners of a competition organised by the Île-de-France Regional Council to attribute a seal of quality to “New Urban Districts”, and by the State for their designation “Eco-district”. They had to comply with strict specifications regarding energy conservation, density and urban requalification.

Econovista.com puts this map of Île-de-France's sustainable districts at your disposal in both French and English. This new map identifies the 29 urban planning projects chosen by State and Regional Council competitions, as well as projects backed by the Regional Office of infrastructure as part of the State-Region Projects Contract 2007-2013 (CPER), of which the 'Big Project' (GP3), called “Intensify the attractiveness of Île-de-France”, is aimed at sustaining urban development operations.

By clicking on the + tab of the picto you are taken to a presentation of Île-de-France's sustainable districts, complete with a definition of the criteria behind the labels “Eco-district” and “New Urban Districts”, as well as a description of the 29 districts being developed in Île-de-France (labels, number of dwellings, web links ...).

Three types of sustainable districts are identified on this map:

• The “New Urban Districts”, stemming from the Regional Council competition, which respect a minimum density of 1500 dwellings in the “heart of the built-up area”. They favour brownfield sites or areas that are hardly urbanized in order to avoid encroaching on agricultural land or nature thus facilitating soft transport options. The chosen projects benefit not only from financial subsidies but also from contractual support, complete with concerted optimization of the project. I8 of these sites are listed in Île-de-France.

• “Eco-districts” and “Eco-towns” are the result of State competitions. An eco-district is officially defined as an “urban planning project aimed at integrating sustainable development objectives and reducing its ecological footprint. In this way, it must insist on taking into account the entire environmental issues at stake and set ambitious levels of strictness.” Launched at the same time, the Eco-town project rewards bigger scale sustainable urban planning strategies. 4 eco-districts and 1 eco-town have been designated in Île-de-France.

• The eco-district projects backed by Île-de-France's Regional Office of infrastructure. 12 in number, they are spread over 6 regional and national areas (OIN (National urban development schemes), new towns,...) considered important for the region's development : Plaine de France and the Roissy area ; Seine Aval and Cergy-Pointoise ; the whole of Marne-la-Vallée up to Meaux ; Orly Rungis and Seine Amont ; the Massy-Palaiseau/Saclay/Versailles/St-Quentin-en-Yvelines area ; the whole of Melun and Sénart.

Click here to go directly to the map in English.
Click here to go directly to the map in French.

This work was undertaken by the ARD (Paris Region Economic Development Agency) in association with the Île-de-France regional council, in a move to promote and develop the Île-de-France eco-region.

Econovista.com is a free mapping tool which shares economic intelligence about Île-de-France. Backed today by more than 20 regional and county partners, the site Econovista.com offers 12 topical maps showcasing Île-de-France's wealth and economic potential.

Browse the site now and discover the different sides to this area … sites perfect for business accommodation with model transport infrastructure, sectors of expertise, research centres, implantation support organizations and Île-de-France's cutting edge clusters.

Finally, Econovista.com holds all the keys to making the right choices regarding your implantation: find the business contacts you want by using the different levels of zoom on the map, download contact numbers and addresses of the right people, find the links to their websites, etc

Sustainable real estate. A sharp increase

Since 2005, 280 buildings in France have received the HEQ label, representing 4.5 million m². Of these certifications, 225 were awarded to offices, six to distribution warehouses and three to retail establishments. Today more than 420 buildings are in the process of receiving certification, and 44% of office space delivered in 2008 in Paris Region met the HEQ policy standard for commercial buildings. Paris Region is home to more than half of the buildings certified, with 58 in Hauts-de-Seine (1.7 million m²), 39 in Paris (584,252 m²) and 33 in Seine-Saint-Denis (612,397 m²).
According to the white paper on sustainable real estate produced by DTZ, the number of HEQ-certified commercial buildings in Paris Region with a surface area over 5,000 m² increased six-fold over a period of four years. In 2008, 59 certifications were granted, covering almost 1.3 million m². Production of HEQ-certified space should increase rapidly over the next few years: almost 700,000 m² could be produced in 2009, and 900,000 m² is already planned for 2010. Today, all commercial construction in Paris Region is involved in HEQ certification.
An HEQ operating standard is in the process of being validated. It will be based on four criteria: management, the building’s intrinsic quality, operational quality and environmental quality of company practices. This last element could have an incentive effect on a company's general practices; for example, companies would be encouraged to study alternative means of employee travel.

©atelier Thierry Roche et associés, The "Descartes +", a future example of sustainable real estate in Marne-la-Vallée

Discover information about on Econovista, the interactive map of Paris Region’s economy

Eco-qualified activity areas in Paris Region on Econovista

Discover the interactive economic map of Paris Region

© Econovista.com

The choice of location for international businesses is made according to increasingly stringent criteria in a tough competitive climate; as well as seeking conditions that will stimulate growth, companies also looking for quality premises, especially from the environmental point of view.

Paris Region offers an array of existing and planned business parks, reinforcing its position as a leading, multi-faceted business hub and eco-region that is home to start-ups and businesses of every type, with regional authorities working closely with businesses and a services offer that fulfils their needs.

As part of this support structure, the Paris Region Economic Development Agency has created an index of the region’s “eco-qualified” business parks – i.e. those implementing an environmental or sustainable development policy. Initially, 31 projects either completed or underway are being presented on Econovista, and more will be added soon as more projects develop; those involved have found that this type of approach, once launched, soon gathers momentum.

The locations of the eco-qualified business parks are shown on the Econovista map (click on Discover).

Your feedback is vital for helping us to help us to develop this project, in particular any comments on the means of characterising (but not of classifying) the areas presented, so please don’t hesitate to tell us your views: Econovista@paris-region.com