Missions

Increasing urban vegetation is widely promoted as an adaptation strategy to face climate change, mainly because of its potential to (1) sequester CO2 from the atmosphere and (2) improve evaporative cooling and positively influence the water cycle in cities. The greening of buildings, i.e., the installation of green envelopes on roofs and walls, can make a significant contribution to urban green infrastructure. However, the benefits of green building envelopes have not been studied and quantified in an integrated manner, taking into account the couplings between energy, water, and carbon exchanges in the envelopes. As part of the GREENVELOPES project, the TEB urban canopy model (Masson 2000, de Munck et al. 2013, Redon et al. 2017 and 2020) has been improved for the coupled calculation of radiative, energy, hydrological, and carbon fluxes from green roofs (Mirebeau et al. 2025), and more recently from green facades. These developments have been evaluated at the building scale - under current climate condition - by comparison with experimental data collected at two sites in Germany.

The mission aims to use the existing model to test building greening scenarios (roofs and facades) in both current and changing climates for Metropolitan France. The proposed methodology involves running forced (or stand-alone) simulations at a single grid point using the TEB urban canopy model, fed with atmospheric data covering a full year to account for the entire plant life cycle and seasonal variations. The simulation outputs will allow for the analysis of, firstly, the functioning of vegetation on facades and roofs in terms of water, energy, and carbon exchanges, and secondly, the building's response in terms of energy consumption (for heating and cooling) and indoor comfort.

This modeling configuration will be based on the prospective climate files made available by ADEME (in partnership with Météo-France, CSTB and DHUP), based on the French reference warming trajectory for adaptation to climate change (TRACC).

Based on this data, several simulations will be carried out:
- By testing different building typologies (particularly in terms of material characteristics and types of internal uses), and configurations with and without vegetation.
- According to the different warming levels for France (+2°C, +2.7°C, and +4°C compared to the pre-industrial period) recommended by the TRACC for adaptation.
- If possible, using climate files associated with the eight reference climate zones in Metropolitan France, prioritizing the zone including the city of Toulouse.
The expected results are the development and analysis of indicators related to (1) the building (energy consumption, indoor comfort conditions) and (2) vegetation (water consumption, carbon sequestration) to allow for comparison of the different scenarios.

Activities

The work proposed includes the following activities: work on computer, participation in team meetings and GREENVELOPES project meetings (see below), coordination with the project partners, contribution to project deliverables.

Skills

Skills in urban climate and building energetics, and in the knowledge and understanding of land surface processes are aimed. An expertise in numerical modeling of physical processes and in data processing and analysis will be appreciated. It is also important to have an appetite for teamwork and be ready to interact with different partners. Good writing and oral presentation skills in French and English are also expected.

Work Context

The Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques (CNRM) is a joint Météo-France and CNRS laboratory located in Toulouse, France. It is one of the leading atmosphere and climate science research institutes in Europe. It provides a highly international and interdisciplinary environment for conducting scientific research as well as access to great scientific facilities.
Within the laboratory, the successful fellow will join the VILLE team, whose activities focus on the study and modeling of urban climate at different spatial and temporal scales. The successful candidate will work under the principal scientific direction of Aude Lemonsu, but numerous interactions are envisaged with the rest of the team in terms of sharing knowledge, expertise and tools. The expected work is also central to the GREENVELOPES research project (bilateral project ANR-DFG 2022-2026) and will involve links with the various experimental and modelling partners. Travel for project and working meetings could take place during the course of the contract.