According to the first EduRénov barometer, 9 out of 10 communities make school renovation a priority

This first edition is based on a unique survey conducted among around 300 local authorities which confirms the strong mobilization of elected officials and agents to transform schools into more energy-efficient spaces.

The school renovation barometer, the result of collaborative work between EduRénov partners, aims to identify the expectations, needs and practices of communities engaged in an energy renovation process for their school and educational buildings.

For Antoine Saintoyant, Managing Director of the Banque des Territoires: "This first barometer provides us with an essential tool to better understand the needs of communities and accelerate school renovations. Improving the study conditions of students and the working conditions of teachers, while reducing the carbon footprint of buildings, is fully in line with the DNA of Banque des Territoires and our missions: improving the daily lives of the French people and fighting global warming."

School renovation: one subject, multiple issues

• 64.000 schools and 12 million students are affected by the challenge of school renovation in France.
• School buildings represent more than 157 million m2, or 30% of the total public real estate assets of the State and local authorities.
• The stock is aging: 80% of primary schools are over 50 years old
• Schools will be exposed to heat waves 3 times more frequently in 2030

A dynamic engaged in French territories

• 9 out of 10 communities consider energy renovation as a priority of the current political mandate
• Priority number 1 is thermal comfort
• 84% of communities have launched or completed a renovation project in the last 5 years
• 72% of the projects undertaken correspond to global renovations and constitute large-scale transformations.

Encouraging initial results, efforts to continue

• 86% of the communities surveyed believe that users are satisfied or very satisfied with the work carried out
• By maintaining the pace set in recent years, more than 30% of the stock could undergo renovation between 2025 and 2030.
• By 2030, 10% savings could be made on the energy bills of local authorities by continuing the same pace of projects undertaken as that observed over the last five years.

4 challenges identified to accelerate school renovation

• Financing: The key is financing operations and the number one issue for 73% of communities
• Upgrading skills: 2 out of 3 communities report having lacked one or more skills during their project.
• Better understanding of the stock: 54% of the communities surveyed only have a partial view of the state of their school assets.
• Measuring the real impact of renovations: 1 in 5 communities are still unaware of the real impact of their renovations on energy consumption.

For Christophe Lasnier, Deputy Director General of SCET: "64.000 schools, 12 million students, 157 million m2, heat waves three times more frequent in 2030, an aging stock, a declining demographic, a presence in all the territories of France, a beating heart of the life of the communities, a cement of living together and learning about life for citizens, or even childhood memories for all French people: there is no shortage of elements to make the renovation of schools a unifying and exciting project in the territories and for our fellow citizens."

The Edurenov program of the Banque des Territoires, a decisive lever

Launched in July 2023, the EduRénov program, deployed by the Banque des Territoires network, supports communities in their projects, through a continuum of personalized financing solutions, from the project to the delivery of renovated buildings, in loans and engineering.

The objective of the Banque des Territoires is to support the renovation of 10.000 schools by 2028 out of the 58.000 establishments (primary, secondary and high schools) in France.

Since the start of the program and until the end of September 2025, nearly 5.400 renovation projects have already been supported, improving the learning conditions of nearly 1,5 million students, including 300.000 university students.

To view the full barometer, here.

[1] Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research, Ministries of Regional Planning and Ecological Transition, ACTEE, FLAME federation, CEREMA, CSTB, Federation of EPL, RARE network, French Institute of Education, Ekopolis, La Banque Postale, Energy Economy, FFB, Rénov'Acteurs, Cercle Promodul, Construction 21, Bouygues Construction, ENEDIS, Equans, GRDF, Saint-Gobain and Somfy.