Among the technologies aimed at reducing sludge production, the combination of thermal treatment at 95 degrees C of sludge and the activated sludge process is a promising route. The feasibility of such a combined process is demonstrated (up to 60% sludge reduction) and the impacts of operating conditions on its efficiency are presented. Major emphasis was put on understanding the complex phenomena occurring within the thermal treatment: release and biodegradability of sludge organic matter, impact on the biological activity (decay, maintenance requirements, etc.). These effects were taken into account for the development of an ASM1-based model. Comparison between the modeling approach and experimental data (continuous and batch) showed that thermal treatment had three major issues partly explaining the reduction of sludge production: (i) a low release of organics; (ii) an immediate and reversible biological inactivation associated with additional maintenance energy requirements; and (iii) a potential inert production.