Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions need to be cut to limit climate change. Thus, universities, in the same way as citizens and companies, are starting to raise awareness about this issue and to take action to reduce their carbon footprint. Centrale Nantes, a French “Grande école”, initiated a low carbon transition with the calculation of the 2018 carbon footprint of the university. This report presents an individual carbon footprint estimator developed within the scope of the university, based on the new open-source French national simulator called “Nos Gestes Climat” proposed by ABC (Association Bilan Carbone (Association for the implementation of Carbon footprint assessment)) and ADEME (French Environment and Energy Management Agency). Development context and important features of the national version are described. Then, to meet university user’s expectations, feedback from a panel of testers has been collected in order to guide the declination development and promote good practices ensuring user engagement. The transparency of the data model, the accurate explanations, the variety of actions have been found to be key success factors for the development and the adoption of such a simulator. Results also suggested that users are keen to involve themselves in the university initiative to reach carbon neutrality.

This paper presents the Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) system developed for a port wharf of a freight terminal, in Saint-Nazaire, France. This concrete structure has been equipped with a multi-sensor system for the monitoring of concrete ageing. The measurement chain is designed to detect the penetration of chloride ions in order to quantify the risk of reinforcement bars corrosion. Modifications of the mechanical behavior of the structural elements of the wharf are also monitored. At first, the sensors embedded within the structure and the acquisition devices are described. The data from the monitoring performed during the first months of the structure service life are then presented. The concrete monitoring at early age providing data like temperature history, strain and resistivity is useful both for the wharf owner and the construction company since it indicates where concrete shrinkage is likely to cause cracking and gives an indicator of material hardening. These data were compared to the results of material tests carried out on concrete. The study shows that a measurement chain dedicated to the SHM could be a useful tool for validating the quality of the construction of a reinforced concrete structure before being used in the framework of long-term monitoring.