Certivéa, which has been supporting building and planning professionals and regional decision-makers on sustainable development issues for 15 years, interviewed 14 personalities to draw up an inventory with them and propose recommendations for engaging the building and the regions. in the fight against the climate emergency.
Members of Parliament, managers and CSR managers in the building and development sector deliver their vision and solutions
At the start of 2021, several players recognized for their expertise and commitment on behalf of the sustainable city responded to Certivéa's call. Among them, political leaders like the deputy and president of the HQE-GBC Alliance Marjolaine Meynier-Millefert, presidents of institutions like Corinne Le Quéré, President of the High Council for the Climate and climatologist or Arnaud Leroy, president of the ADEME; managers and CSR managers of building and development companies such as Fabrice Bonnifet, Sustainable Development Director of Bouygues and Chairman of C3D; or even architects like Denis Valode. (the exhaustive list of the 14 personalities is specified in the full summary).
A 360 ° inventory at the scale of the new building, the existing stock and the territories
New building: virtuous practices must be democratized and waste management remains problematic
The measurement of greenhouse gas emissions, the management of energy consumption are developing and the involvement of companies is very real. For Pierre Ducret, President of the Institute of the Economy for the Climate: "Large companies are increasing their commitments [linked to the climate emergency] and innovating to seize market opportunities and limit their risks". The large real estate management companies, which now use ESG (Environmental Societal Governance) performance criteria to value their real estate assets, are also shifting margins.
However, the specifications of the contractors still lack ambition. For Fabrice Bonnifet, "It is unacceptable that the construction sector continues for years to produce more than 220 million tonnes of waste per year".
Existing stock: priority given to the climate emergency, yet systemic brakes still prevent the massification of renovation
The existing fleet constitutes the bulk of the sector's carbon and energy footprint. It is estimated that in 2050, 70% of existing buildings will date from before the RT 2012 regulations. The massification of renovation benefits from unprecedented political support with the France Relance plan and from ambitious regulatory support with the tertiary decree. However, the revolution has not yet taken place. If we delay too long, in addition to the climate issue, the investments needed to renovate an increasingly degraded park could become dizzying.
In order to consolidate the renovation, we must remove the systemic obstacles mentioned by Julien Hans, Director of Energy-Environment at CSTB Grenoble: “We are now seeing: a strong non-quality of the works, which is added to long returns on investment, little research and development in the sector (<1% of construction turnover), and lastly, a weak service offer and a workforce that is still poorly trained in terms of massification needs. "
Territories: key players in deploying sustainable strategies but governance that is not sufficiently transversal
According to Marjolaine Meynier-Millefert, "Local authorities are naturally in the best position to adjust ambitions in the fight against climate change to the realities on the ground, which, without them, often remain theoretical". However, the transformation of territories today comes up against silos: each action hardly goes beyond the limits of a community or a field of intervention. Governance should involve more the different actors of the territories, of the public and private sectors, without forgetting the inhabitants, scientists and economic actors.
Recommendations at all stages of the building's life and at regional level
New: going beyond the energy approach to understand the carbon impact and occupant comfort
The new RE2020 regulation is, according to the people interviewed, the opportunity to stimulate a paradigm shift in construction: going beyond the issue of energy performance to understand the carbon impact and summer comfort of occupants.
This implies in particular a reflection on materials, as Denis Valode, architect reminds us: “the main subject is now gray energy [1] which concerns the choice of materials and the conditions of construction of the building. (…). One rule: the right material in the right place. "
Existing park: in addition to the massification of renovation, a revolution in uses is needed
The stakeholders interviewed unanimously support the idea of linking environmental conditionalities more systematically to the allocation of public subsidies, with the use of low-carbon energies as an essential condition.
Many players recall the need to innovate in terms of use, reversibility, recycling, densification, revegetation, etc.
Finally, Christian Brodhag, President of Construction 21, believes that: “The Covid crisis and remote working practices will lead tertiary companies to reconsider their organization, their heritage and their use of digital technology. An eco-design of these solutions is necessary, in particular with the deep renovation »
Territories: sustainable development must infuse territorial strategies
Sustainable development and the climate emergency must become essential components of all regional development projects. We are thinking of the evaluation of the carbon impact of public budgets or the formalization of energy renovation objectives. In addition to the aids and support systems, there are relevant tools such as strategic compasses, planning methods, etc. The sobriety of public policies, the preservation of biodiversity, the fight against the artificialization of soils are also mentioned.
For Dominique Riquier-Sauvage, architect and member of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council: “In terms of development, we must take measures aimed in particular at limiting the artificialization of soils in order to preserve our biodiversity, which plays a regulatory role in terms of the climate and carbon storage. "
Indispensable support for stakeholders to achieve objectives
All the people interviewed also underlined the importance of collective innovation but also of support, both financial and methodological, for increasing the skills of the players. The following are expected in particular: tools, guides, advice, best practices and expert opinions to help define a good strategy.
Certification at the service of stakeholders to accelerate the environmental transition
Faced with the climate emergency, Certivéa's sustainable development certifications and labels are part of the tools enabling public and private actors to progress. They make it possible to structure their roadmap, enhance their commitments and differentiate themselves by anticipating regulatory changes as well as possible. The certifications that specifically take into account the challenges of climate change are NF HQE tertiary buildings, HQE Bâtiment Durable (adaptation to climate change theme, E + C calculation - foreshadowing the RE 2020, LEVELS), the E + C Label - foreshadowing the RE 2020, the Effinergie Labels and finally the BBCA Label, not to mention the R2S-4GRIDS Label and the Biodiversity Label.