By modifying the DPE, Bercy wants to remove “hundreds of thousands of homes” from the status of “thermal sieve”

Recently in charge of energy issues, Bruno Le Maire wants to reform the method of calculating the energy performance diagnosis (DPE), which classifies housing according to their energy consumption.

The most economical accommodations are classified A, while the most energy-intensive, nicknamed "thermal sieves", are classified F or G and the latter will be prohibited for rental from January 1, 2025.

“The current methodology encourages people to stay with gas heating,” explains Bercy. “Today, a gas home that switches to electricity can fall into a sieve because of this methodology, while it divides its greenhouse gas emissions by three,” argues the ministry.

Mr. Le Maire is therefore pushing to “change the energy conversion coefficient”, an element of the DPE, so that it benefits homes heated with electricity rather than gas.

“If we change the DPE on this point, hundreds of thousands of homes could come out of thermal sieve status,” the ministry insists.

But it is indeed a “wish” from Bruno Le Maire, which must still be arbitrated, Bercy underlined.

“At this stage, there is no project on the table to modify the DPE methodology and the correction does not concern this energy conversion coefficient,” responded in the evening the office of the Minister of Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu. The latter announced on Sunday a first evolution of the DPE by correcting a “calculation bias” specific to housing of less than 40 square meters, which will remove 140.000 from categories F and G.

“A modification of modification of modification”

“This is a great direction which will allow homes heated with electricity to come out of the thermal sieves while electricity is 92% carbon-free,” welcomed Loïc Cantin, president of the National Real Estate Federation, after the wish expressed by Bruno Le Maire.

“What is a scandal is to say that by changing the thermometer we will solve the problem,” on the contrary denounced Danyel Dubreuil, “energy efficiency” coordinator of CLER, a member association of Réseau Action Climat.

"Bruno Le Maire's intentions are not to renovate housing and reduce energy consumption, but to artificially reduce the number of strainers because this number is a political problem which generates obligations for landlords", he added, believing that this decision would “aggravate the risk of energy poverty”.

“We are all campaigning to make the DPE more reliable and stable. With a modification of modification of modification, owners will find themselves less and less confused,” added Jean-Christophe Protais, president of Sidiane, the Interprofessional Union of Real Estate Diagnostics.

“Under pressure from the nuclear lobby, Bercy wants to reconsider the calculation of the DPE for homes heated with electricity, which amounts to deviating from the European directive which speaks of primary energy and not final energy,” he said. -he added, recalling that "electric energy certainly emits less greenhouse gases, but that it is necessary to produce 2,3 kilowatt hours to bring 1 kilowatt hour of electricity to its point of use", which is not not the case with gas.

"The method is truly deplorable. It is the competition of the one who will best unravel the law and Bruno Le Maire really positions himself with the desire to weaken it", regretted Manuel Domergue, director of studies of the Abbé Foundation -Pierre, who pleads for “consultation”.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.