The "50°C Cities" collective is seeking solutions to extreme heat

Based on the observation that cities like Paris could experience heat peaks of 50°C in the coming decades, this collective, co-founded by the Seqens and CDC Habitat groups, intends to pool innovations in the sector with the objective of adapting 2030% of housing in France and 10 million m30 in the tertiary sector by 2.

"The summer of 2024 was the hottest on record (...) It is therefore essential to work primarily on decarbonization, but also on adaptation strategies to prepare for a changing climate," explained Christophe Rodriguez, deputy director general of the A4MT firm, which is supporting the initiative, during a press briefing.

According to him, France is still "in the early stages of taking summer comfort into account", with homes that sometimes have "a great DPE" (energy performance diagnosis, editor's note) but present "poor summer comfort because there can be a "thermos" effect.

The members of the collective (Altarea, Bouygues Immobilier, Vinci Immobilier, Icade, Carbone 4, Cerema, etc.) intend to "systematize an adaptation reflex in each act of renovation and construction."

Concretely, it involves experimenting with solutions and testing "levels of ambition" to accelerate good practices, or even lead to regulatory changes.

"We see that in the Ile-de-France region, we don't have as strong a culture of adaptation as in the south of France," acknowledged Marion Oechsli, general director of Seqens, noting the absence of shutters on the windows of some residences.

"The objective is also to ensure that the adaptation work fits into already planned rehabilitation programs," explained Clément Lecuivre, general director of CDC Habitat.

The City of Paris, whose Deputy Minister for Housing, Jacques Baudrier, has reported an "explosion in building renovations," aims to increase the number of housing renovations per year from 5.000 to 15.000 in two years, then to 40.000 in 2030.