The Haute Qualité Environnementale or HQE (High Quality Environmental standard) is a standard for green building in France, based on the principles of sustainable development first set out at the 1992 Earth Summit.
The standard is controlled by the Paris-based Association pour la Haute Qualité Environnementale (ASSOHQE).
The standard specifies criteria for the following:[1] Managing the impacts on the outdoor environment Creating a pleasant indoor environment On 16 June 2009, it was announced that the CSTB (Centre Scientifique et Technique du Batiment) and its subsidiary CertiVéA had signed a memorandum of understanding to work together with the global arm of the United Kingdom's Building Research Establishment (BRE) to develop a pan-European building environmental assessment method.
Unfortunately, BREEAM and HQE are still disseminating their own standards round the world, leaving little doubt that no pan-European method will emerge in the near future, at least stemming from these two organisations.
[2] Since 2013, the HQE brand is now available for buildings and districts worldwide.