The new construction standards for new buildings set a target of 30% energy savings

These new rules, called RE 2020, must come into force from the summer of 2021 instead of January 2021, as had been planned before the health crisis.

The first part concerns "energy sobriety", detailed in a press conference Barbara Pompili, Minister of Ecological Transition.

For this, the energy need (Bbio), an indicator which reflects the energy needs of a building to remain at a "comfortable" temperature, will be the key instrument, specifies the ministry.

Compared to the previous regulation dating from 2012, all new housing must therefore have a Bbio 30% lower.

A maximum threshold for greenhouse gas emissions from energy consumption will also be established. It will be stricter for individual housing, while for collective housing "the transition will be gradual between 2021 and 2024".

In addition, "the RE 2020 will also take into account the need for cooling (...) to limit a need that will be increasingly necessary, that of cooling its home and no longer just heating it", underlined Barbara Pompili, by recommending to "avoid as much as possible" the use of air conditioning.

Concerning construction and demolition, which represent 60% to 90% of the carbon footprint of a building with a lifespan of 50 years, efforts will also have to be made.

On this aspect, however, the new standards will not become effective until 2024, while the industry takes ownership of the analysis method.

"Some may say that we are not ambitious enough for 2021, but we are for the future and it is the feasibility and sustainability of the trajectory that count", defended Emmanuelle Wargon, Minister for Housing.

Greenhouse gas emissions for construction will therefore have to fall by 15% in 2024, 25% in 2027 and then 30% to 40% depending on the type of habitat by 2030.

The unveiling of these new standards, the first decrees and orders of which must be put for consultation in early December, comes as the High Council for the Climate criticized France on Tuesday for its delay in decarbonizing the building sector.