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Ecodesign statement

I. OUR COMMITMENT TO ECODESIGN

The https://ecoledesponts.fr website was designed and developed using an eco-design approach in order to limit its environmental footprint. The approach is based on the RGESN (General Reference Framework for the Eco-design of Digital Services) published by the French Interministerial Mission for Responsible Digital Technology.

The eco-design of the website is part of the École nationale des ponts et chaussées' responsible digital strategy. It is a continuous improvement process that aims to reduce the environmental impact of websites by monitoring standardized indicators.

The initiative was led by the École nationale des ponts et chaussées with the support of GreenIT-certified individuals from Net.Com.

The service was assessed on November 26, 2025.

The RGESN compliance rate is 92% - Download the report.

These results are likely to change over time; the quantification of environmental impacts presented is a snapshot taken at a given moment in time. 

II. WHAT IS THE GENERAL ECODESIGN REFERENCE FRAMEWORK?

Recommended in the report on software obsolescence that the government submitted to Parliament in June 2021, the General Eco-design Reference Framework for Digital Services is a commitment under the government's “Digital and Environment” roadmap published in February 2021. Led by the Interministerial Digital Directorate (DINUM), the Ministry of Ecological Transition, ADEME, and the Institute for Responsible Digital Technology (INR), this framework has two main objectives:

To combat the obsolescence of user equipment and network or server equipment

To reduce the consumption of IT and energy resources

III. ECO-DESIGN APPROACH OF THE ENPC

The eco-design approach implemented by the École nationale des ponts et chaussées on this website is based on a methodology and a set of best practices described in the general eco-design reference framework for digital services (RGESN). This approach reduces the website's environmental impact in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, primary energy consumption, resource consumption, and pressure on freshwater resources.

The key actions were:

  • An assessment of the RGESN criteria during all stages of the site's development: Specification, Design, Development, Production, Use, Support/Maintenance/End of Life
  • An ergonomic and graphic design that closely follows the recommendations for simplicity and frugality (a simple and uniform design, optimized user paths).
  • The implementation of an editorial charter incorporating content simplicity constraints (appropriate content, no unnecessary images, videos, or animations).
  • Optimization of the necessary resources (video or audio content played only at the user's request, compressed documents and images, use of interface components, optimization of the weight of each page).
  • This approach promotes the longevity of equipment (mobile phones, computers) used by citizens visiting the sites by limiting the obsolescence of devices.

Overall, the site is designed to limit the resources required to display a page or use a feature.

IV. STRATEGY IMPLEMENTED AND OBJECTIVES FOR REDUCING OR LIMITING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

The main challenge is to ensure that this website works on the oldest possible devices and under a variety of connectivity conditions:

  • Work on UX (user experience) by offering different ways to access content.
  • Make navigation as intuitive as possible to reduce the time spent finding information.
  • Optimize the maximum number of server requests per screen.
  • Optimization of the maximum resource weight per screen
  • All content is viewable on mobile devices as a minimum. The site adapts to all screen sizes
  • Maximum compression of images and videos
  • Proposal of a textual alternative to videos
  • Manual deletion of obsolete content: news, calendar entries, for example.

V. MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCESSING THE SITE

  • Type, year of manufacture, or target versions of supported user devices: any mobile device manufactured in 2014 or later.
  • Minimum connection required for comfortable access and use of the service: 3G for mobile devices and 512 Kbps for fixed connections.
  • Adaptation to different screen sizes: Yes, minimum screen size of 320 pixels wide.

VI. SUPPORTED HARDWARE PROFILES

École nationale des ponts et chaussées uses the most standard mechanisms possible. All desktop and mobile browsers must be supported. The website is therefore compatible with any device capable of running a compatible web browser:

  • Pentium 4 PC or higher, minimum 2 GB RAM for Windows (minimum for Firefox and Chrome)
  • Mac compatible with MacOS X High Sierra or higher (Mac hardware from 2009 or later)
  • Android mobile device 6.0 or higher (mobile devices from 2015 or later)
  • IOS mobile device 10.3 or higher (devices from 2012 or later)

In particular, the service has been successfully tested (in real life or through emulation) on:

  • Operating systems: Windows 7 and above, MacOS X High Sierra and above, Linux
  • Browsers: Chrome/Chromium, Firefox (latest version or ESR), Edge, Opera, Safari 11 or above

The product is therefore committed to displaying correctly at different resolutions:

  • All users viewing the site: smartphone 360 x 800 minimum, tablet and computer (tablet 800 x 1080 minimum or computer 1366 x 768 minimum)