The building insulation sector calls for urgent measures to revive the sector

For the Symbiote: "The building represents more than 40% of energy consumption and more than 25% of GHG emissions. The massification of energy renovations is therefore essential and essential to significantly reduce the energy needs of the existing building stock. In In this context, the insulation of buildings, especially in the residential sector, must be THE priority because it is the most effective action in the long term. Insulation is a "permanent price shield" against the rising cost of building. energy, it makes it possible to massively reduce GHG emissions and finally it also makes it possible to strengthen our energy independence by reducing our consumption.

The building insulation sector is a young sector, which began to become more professional less than 10 years ago. From 2016 to 2020, it benefited from massive support from the public authorities which enabled it to recruit, train, structure... and isolate. Thus, more than 150 million m2 of attics, 40 million m2 of floors and 10 million facades have been insulated over the past three years, enabling the French to save nearly 500 million euros in heating savings per year and to massively reduce their GHG emissions into the atmosphere.

For nearly a year and a half, the public authorities (and in particular the Ministry of Energy and Solidarity Transition) have in fact abandoned the insulation sector, by drastically reducing aid for the benefit of French households. Given the significant cost of energy renovation, our fellow citizens, and in particular the most precarious, must be supported financially. For this, the public authorities rely on two distinct systems: the Energy Savings Certificates (CEE) and MaPrimeRénov' (MPR).

However, MaPrimeRénov aid was very little directed towards insulation, with more than 65% of the budget devoted to the installation of heat pumps and wood stoves. Worse, since July 2020, the ANAH has recorded a 25% reduction in aid for the insulation of facades granted to the French. With regard to the CEEs, the public authorities successively reduced the Coup de Pouce for the insulation of floors in September 2020, then abolished the Coup de Pouce for the insulation of attics on June 30, 2021, six months in advance.

The Ministry's figures are unequivocal: the volume of insulated attics and floors has since fallen by more than 80%. While an average of 60.000 attics were insulated per month in 2020, less than 5.000 attics have been insulated monthly since the end of the Coup de Pouce in June 2021.

In 2022, the French no longer insulate their homes because there is almost no more national aid. Let's take the example of a household with very modest incomes who wishes to carry out a high-performance insulation project (attics, floors and facades) of their detached house of 100 m2, for a total amount of 20.000 €. His remaining charge, once the aid has been deducted, was €1750 in March 2020. In March 2022, it was more than €9.500.

The impact of sudden and uncoordinated changes in insulation subsidy schemes is considerable and disastrous for the young insulation sector. In six months, more than 13.000 jobs have been destroyed. Companies that had invested in a high-performance production tool are on the verge of bankruptcy, the skills that were beginning to take shape are disappearing over the layoffs. Same story on the side of manufacturers who had massively developed their production capacity and who need stability to make their investments profitable.

In six months, the insulation sector will have sunk.

Who will have the capacity to carry out the energy renovation of tomorrow? But what are governments doing? The Ministry, in the greatest discretion, has decided to favor heating over insulation. Thus, sales of heat pumps grew by 50% in 2021, largely supported by MPR and one of the few CEE Coups de Pouce still active. Admittedly, this is a more ecological heating method than fuel oil, but improving the heating of an uninsulated house does not change the fact that we are essentially heating the atmosphere.

This policy, noted but not announced and even less assumed, is incomprehensible.

By considerably weakening the insulation sector, the public authorities are permanently compromising France's ability to achieve its objectives for the thermal renovation of buildings and the reduction of GHG emissions. At a time when the question of the purchasing power of the French is at the heart of the news, it is also depriving oneself of an effective means of improving it.

2022 must be the year of the revival of the insulation sector in France. At a time of soaring energy prices, there is an urgent need to create a context enabling French households, and particularly the most modest ones, to improve the energy sobriety of their homes. This will absolutely go through insulation…”