The electrical sector calls for planned sobriety in buildings based on professionals and technical eco-gestures

This structural change in lifestyles in residential and tertiary buildings, which remains the most energy-intensive sector, is essential for everyone to be able to obtain long-term energy savings and develop sources of flexibility.

Change habits

This study shows the necessary transition from a short-term reduction in consumption marked by the energy crisis, to a structural and lasting reduction, thanks to the implementation of technical eco-gestures.

Last winter, the rise in energy bills as well as the tensions on the energy systems made it necessary, on the part of all the players (territories, companies, individuals, donors, etc.), to make efforts and seek solutions to reduce energy consumption. At home or at work, everyone has been made aware of the need to reduce and postpone their electricity consumption, through the government's awareness campaign "I lower, I turn off, I shift" as well as the mobilization around EcoWatt.

This life-size experiment has already made it possible to obtain, according to Rte, 9% energy savings in record time! It also revealed a collective awareness of the lever represented by sobriety to consume less and differently via a growing demand for self-consumption (in connection with the development of photovoltaics and the charging of electric vehicles), as well as the return power management in buildings to respond to tariff and flexibility signals.

A source of energy savings between 15 and 30% thanks to a "waste hunt" in buildings

It is essential that gestures of sobriety in buildings are anchored in habits in winter as in summer, including to avoid rebound effects. Turning down the heating when a home or office space is empty should become automatic, like turning off the light.

This hunt for reducing our consumption was motivated by an imperative of sobriety over a short period of time. To be part of the long term, it is necessary to move from manual eco-gesture to technical eco-gesture, in order to have the means to act without thinking about it or with a click on a smartphone; for example by refining the regulations, by adapting the "night closets", by relying on the inertia of the buildings, by instrumenting the buildings (connected thermostats, presence or light detectors, regulation by rooms, etc.).

This will make this energy optimization in buildings all the more tolerated by the French/occupiers, as it will be done without loss of comfort or feeling of downgrading. And to achieve daily performance, consuming less and at the right time, this search for savings must also be accompanied by human and organizational resources.

With a massification of technical eco-gestures thanks to management solutions installed and maintained by professionals, savings of 15 and 30% can be achieved in a sustainable manner depending on the sector. The pool of savings that can be mobilized is therefore very significant in a sector which represents 45% of the country's total energy consumption. The savings made this winter are only the beginnings.

A sector committed to equipping 100% of the residential and tertiary stock by 2030

The electrical sector has observed a much stronger dynamic in the control solutions market, whether for residential buildings (+15% of sales of heating control solutions according to IGNES) or for commercial buildings (+22% according to the GIMELEC). We also note that 1 in 2 thermostats sold in the 4th quarter of 2022 were connected, compared to less than 1 in 3 in the 1st quarter of 2022.

Nevertheless, with a level of equipment in control solutions of 12% for the residential sector and 6% for the tertiary sector of + 1000m², the challenge remains immense!

In addition to a strong relay by companies in the sector of the campaign encouraging sobriety with their employees, their customers and the general public, the sector has fully mobilized by recruiting, training massively and investing to meet the challenges to install control solutions in 100% of residential and tertiary buildings by 2030. An objective that cannot be achieved without an ambitious action and investment plan.

5 recommendations from the sector to consolidate and anchor sobriety as a lever for achieving decarbonization objectives

1. Improve the rate at which buildings are equipped with management solutions and systematise the use of professionals to optimize performance (generalize the implementation of sobriety plans, systematically integrate a "management/smart building package", promote the use of to commissioning…)
2. Integrating sobriety into financial aid (CEE, OSCAR program, MaPrimeRénov', etc.)
3. Raise awareness of technical eco-gestures to anchor winter and summer sobriety in practices (communication campaign, good practice guides, etc.)
4. Introduce summer and winter sobriety in the ECD to materialize the existence of solutions capable of acting to consume less and better
5. Encourage buildings to become a source of flexibility for the energy system (economic incentive, power culture, storage, etc.).