Ecological social housing: putting quality housing within the reach of the poorest and reducing household expenses
Saint-Denis (93)
Assistance is not a sustainable solution: the premises of the venture
The daily work of a group of about 15 people in a Catholic Christian community (Communauté de l'Assomption in the Pas-de-Calais) is to care for excluded people. Realising that assistance was not a real solution, they gradually developed integration activities for new prospects.
This experience led them to understand that, in addition to its "bread and butter" function, work is a factor in communication and contact that facilitates integration in society and gives people back the feeling of being useful to society.
This was the beginning of the SCOP (cooperative production company) SOMEBOIS venture, the ancestor of SCIERIE ET PALETTES DU LITTORAL (SPL).
SPL SA, a SCOP with the status of an integration enterprise, now involved in various trades: sawing, making non-standard pallets, transport and logistics, building ecological social housing and solid wood structures for houses.
Of its 120 employees, 70 have integration posts. The enterprise is the market leader in the far north of France.
Other bodies, grouped under the generic name "Chênelet", have been established by the same promoters, always in the constant search for solutions to the multiple problems of people in difficulty (constructing a new life project, gradual return to work as well as housing, health and environment problems, etc.). The main bodies include:
- the association Chênelet, whose mission is assistance in "the early days" in the form of integration workshops and implementing new social and environmental activities: Cocagne garden, manufacture of eco-materials and ecological furniture for the garden, cultivation of wild plants, etc.
- the association Chênelet Development, responsible for ensuring the prospects of these new trades by doing feasibility studies and knowledge transmission through training.
- the SCI (non-trading property company) Chênelet-Habitat, which holds all the assets connected with the socio-economic activities of each body. The SCI is in particular the contracting authority for the social housing under construction in Moyecques.
This comprehensive approach, which reflects the difficulties encountered by a vulnerable group, led to the idea of playing an active part in more general societal aims, in particular in the environment and quality of life fields.
Access to fundamental needs is becoming more and more difficult for people in difficulty. They are far removed from environmental issues and advances that sometimes bring savings (water and energy consumption in the home, for example) and sometimes avert health issues that concern them in particular (such as illnesses caused by an unbalanced diet).
Chênelet therefore wants to put sustainable development forward as an end and a dynamic tool for progress in society, at the same time taking care to maintain its independence through the profitability of its action.
Eco-construction of social housing
It all began when a farm shelter ? the bercq ? was fitted out as a meeting room and offices using local materials (straw and clay). Thanks to Chênelet's know-how and knowledge of wood and local resources (clay), the first housing (comfortable houses built according to the principles of eco-construction and cost control) was built at Moyecques on the Chênelet site itself: the first ecological social housing! This first step encouraged the team to use, in particular, solid wood structures and raw earth blocks.
Building began on the two first houses in 2002 and they were occupied the same year; the next two were inaugurated in 2004.
Since then Chênelet's objective has been to extend the method to other sites: the project at Saint-Denis (four homes delivered in June 2007) is a perfect example, involving not only the techniques and purposes of construction, but also the financial and land-ownership modalities and the forms of partnership that have to be adapted to the local context, so much so that 15 other homes have been confirmed.
The Saint-Denis project simultaneously targets environmental, economic and social issues, putting ecological and economical technologies within the reach of people with low incomes.
The societal dimension of housing
From the social point of view, the declared objectives are clear:
- sustainable homes for all: the possibility for low-income families to be more than adequately housed just outside Paris;
- controlled additional cost, compatible with the financial criteria of social housing;
- information for residents on the practical issues of sustainable development applied to housing issues;
- dialogue with users on choices as to how homes are equipped and laid out;
- educating occupiers on appropriate behaviours for responsible energy consumption;
- guarantee of reproducing the conditions of such an initiative through the involvement of local contractual partners;
- designing manufacturing processes in such as way as to enable unskilled people to be involved at every stage.
Constructive choices
The concept is based on the experience in the Ps-de-Calais. It is a matter of sound housing with a level of thermal comfort of a very high quality at controlled cost. These objectives are made possible by a judicious combination of materials and insulation (wood, raw earth, cellulose, Fermacell, etc.), all of which "breathe", consistent with the heating methods chosen (stove, under-floor heating).
Other qualities are also developed as a direct response to the context of the construction and the development of uses: sound comfort, healthy air, care in the home, access for people with reduced mobility etc.
These houses of around 100m2 also integrate the principle of renewable energies and ecological techniques in the organisation of homes: wood-heating method, collection of rainwater for the bathroom and garden, etc.
The local partnership
The smooth running of the project depends to a great extent on the local partnership. The Chênelet Development team, which is responsible for its organisation, favours the involvement of local actors as a guarantee of the successful dissemination of its method.
For example, various local actors took part in the Saint-Denis project: LOGIREP (private social backer, contracting authority), the city of Saint-Denis (made sites available), SPL (lead general construction company), APIJ (integration enterprise, local partner enterprise and development contact in Ile-de-France), Crédit cooperative (lending body), as well as various local contractual enterprises.
The result of this collective movement speaks for itself: Chênelet's technical studies evaluate the energy savings at 40% and water savings at 20%. The construction cost is 10% higher than for a conventional home, but support and the preservation of the environment are beyond price.
