The chaire of civil engineering and eco-construction started activities in January 2013.

Its creation is the result of the strong will to establish an active and permanent  partnership between regional economic actors in the construction sector, and the Nantes Université, on the eco-construction theme.
It is financed by donators through the Fondation of Nantes Université and through an objective contract between the University and local authorities.
Its activities are centered on Life Cycle Assessment.
The chaire is linked to the GeM laboratory for its research activities, and to the civil engineering training path for its education activities, which are given in inside Polytech Nantes and IUT of Saint-Nazaire.

The chaire endorses three types of missions:

  • to contribute to high level international research by developing innovative methods to apply Life Cycle Assessment to eco-construction
  • to transfer to its partners the eco-construction culture, as a source of  value added, by providing them significant advance through preparation of future regulations as well as future market tendencies
  • to diffuse largely principles for eco-construction to enterprises, local authorities, and decision makers in general

The chaire fullfils its missions through several means:

  • financing research through PhD and post-doctoral contracts
  • organizing joint projects between students and enterprises with the aim of putting eco-construction into practise 
  • organizing or participating to events (seminars, debates, workshops...) on the eco-construction theme for varied audiences (researchers, entrepreneurs, decision-makers, professionnal organizations...)

The campus of Saint-Nazaire:

The campus of Saint-Nazaire is part of the main campus of Nantes Université and is located at 60km, with direct train connexion, near the ocean.

The chaire is a team:

  • Anne Ventura, she is the head of the team, she has a PhD in environmental chemistry, and has been conducting research on Life Cycle Assessment applied to civil engineering since 2002
  • Tristan Senga Kiessé, he has a PhD in applied mathematics and statistics since 2008
  • Karine Frocq, she ensures the administrative support for the every day functionning of the team
  • Van Loc Ta has civil engineering master's degree and is conducting a PhD