The multiplication and massification of financial aid for renovation testifies to public policies undertaken to encourage individuals, businesses and communities to save energy.
The mainstays of the energy transition, building craftsmen (555.261 companies for 640.621 employees), whether they have the RGE label or not, are the primary players in this local challenge. Between business opportunities and ecological awareness, how do they see their role? Do they feel sufficiently armed to relay government orientations? Are they prescribers of financial aid or of more virtuous materials? These are the questions answered by this unprecedented study carried out by OpinionWay for BigMat, a major player in housing and European leader in the distribution of materials and products for renovation and construction.
Public incentives for energy renovation: effective but complicated
MaPrimeRénov ', energy saving certificates (energy bonuses), Anah subsidies or even local and regional schemes ... Deemed globally effective (58%) and sufficient (56%), aid to encourage ecological transition buildings, subject to numerous successive reforms, are numerous and varied with specific award criteria such as household resources and the nature of the work undertaken.
While 71% of French people * are unaware of these financing tools expressing strong expectations in terms of support, it must be noted at the same time that nearly two-thirds of building craftsmen (66%) consider them complicated. Thus, only 46% consider themselves to be sufficiently well informed to advise their clients in this matter. Worse, they are 44% to feel legitimate to speak about it. A very shared perception which explains in particular that at this stage, the various government initiatives to accelerate the renovation of thermal strainers are only perceived as a lever for commercial development by 22% of professionals.
Craftsmen, prescribers of environmentally friendly solutions?
In a previous study commissioned by BigMat in 2019 on The French and the Craftsmen, 2/3 of the people questioned considered that building professionals did not yet have an eco-responsible vision of renovation and construction work, but there were more than 1 out of 2 (56%) think they should. A little more than 1 in 5 respondents (21%) also thought that craftsmen already had this vision ...
In fact, 70% of craftsmen say they offer solutions that respect the environment even if, on a daily basis, the recommendation of these solutions is only systematic for 23% of them. In detail, 18% only offer them if they are as effective as the others, 13% when customers are not reluctant and 16% when they are not more expensive.
Among the main obstacles to failing to recommend, nearly one in five tradesmen (18%) consider that they do not know them well enough to recommend them and 7% fear rejecting clients ...
“We are at a crossroads and this study shows particularly interesting and contrasting results. More than half of artisans consider the public incentives for energy renovation to be efficient and sufficient, on the other hand even more of them find them complex. It is important to remember that in the vast majority of cases, these are VSEs or even freelancers who are already in great demand. Consequently, the administrative burden that accompanies the deployment of these systems and the time necessary to obtain information or even train and ultimately advise individuals is sorely lacking. However, 70% of artisans recommend environmentally friendly solutions at one point or another, echoing the widespread awareness of climate issues among the general public. This result, even if there is still a large margin of progress, shows that the energy transition is now a subject clearly identified as strategic by professionals in the sector, which was not the case a few years ago ”, analysis Fabio Rinaldi, Chairman of the Management Board of BigMat France. "The State has made its small revolution by massifying and simplifying aid and yes, craftsmen can become major ambassadors to facilitate the energy transition, it is up to players like us to help them through information on materials biobased for example or by relieving them of the heavy administrative procedures associated with financial aid, ”he concludes.
* OpinionWay study for Monexpert-renovation-energie.fr
Methodology: survey carried out by telephone between April 26 and May 14, 2021 among a sample of 505 craft businesses representative of businesses in the construction sector with less than 10 employees. The sample was drawn up according to the quota method with regard to the criteria of region of establishment and size of company and according to the ISO 20252 standard.