Description of the research project CIMEDE for the industrial construction of evolutionary, sustainable and economic houses

CIMEDE is a research project supported by the Region of Wallonia (Belgium). It stands for CIMEDE “Construction Industrielle de Maisons Evolutives, Durables et Economiques – industrial construction of evolutionary, sustainable and economic houses”. Since the materials envisaged for this project are timber and gypsum fiber board, it was necessary to design a constructive principle of lightweight timber frame constructions which meets the industrial, sustainable, evolutionary and economic requirements and also the requirements of the Belgian acoustic standard NBN S01400-1. First of all, an inventory of constructive elements that are currently used in this type of construction (floors, walls and facades) is presented with their acoustic performances. Then, the laboratory measurements of some samples of floors, facades, interior walls and partition walls are described and discussed. On the basis of the measurement results, several solutions that best meet all criteria were retained and a mock-up was buildt with these constructive elements. Measurement results on this mock-up are also presented. The final solution for the floor, the partition wall, the interior wall and the facade which meets the acoustic requirements is finally described