Emissions from the building are down!

Introduction

The construction industry is at the intersection of various environmental and social issues. It is one of the main sectors responsible for greenhouse gas emissions in France. It is vulnerable to climate hazards, with growing exposure to risks related to clay soils, flooding, and summer heat stress. It consumes a large amount of resources for construction. It has a significant impact on biodiversity, with the area of built-up land continuing to grow. It is a source of air pollution, resulting in substantial human and financial costs. Finally, and above all, it is essential for ensuring that everyone has access to a decent standard of living.

It is therefore necessary totake a comprehensive approach to address all of these issues. Ecological Planning, led by the Ministry of Ecological Transition, has taken on this challenge.

This article aims to provide an analysis of the work carried out by the General Secretariat for Ecological Planning (SGPE) on the building sector—a sort of assessment on the eve of the release of the consultation document on the third version of the National Low-Carbon Strategy (SNBC). It focuses specifically on greenhouse gas emissions in the sector and their trend (in the right direction!) over the past decade.

After taking stock of the current situation, we will examine the regulations that have been put in place, which, as we will see, have played a key role in reducing emissions. Particular attention is given to the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), a public policy tool familiar to everyone that caused quite a stir this spring following the announcement of a change in the calculation method.^[1], but also because of the emerging restrictions that have appeared in recent years on the least efficient models.

High Expectations for Decarbonization in the Building Sector

When discussing greenhouse gas emissions from the building sector, Two sources of emissions are commonly cited: emissions related to energy consumption in buildings and related emissions construction materials and equipment.

Emissions associated with the building's operation^[2] account for 77% total national emissions from the sector^[3], according to an analysis by the General Secretariat for Ecological Planning (SGPE) published in 2023 (see Figure 1), broken down between residential and tertiary sectors at a 60-40% ratio. Construction products and equipment account for 16% of emissions, with new construction contributing significantly (80% compared to 20% for renovation). Finally, land development accounts for 6%, a significant share of the total.

In total, the The building sector accounts for 29% of the country's emissions^[4], making it the second-largest source of emissions after the transportation sector (31% of national emissions). The good news is that the levers for decarbonizing this sector of the economy are well known (phasing out fossil fuels, improving the energy efficiency of buildings, reusing materials), and the obstacles are primarily organizational and financial rather than technical.

For the past decade, French public authorities have been working to define France’s climate strategy. The government first published the National Low-Carbon Strategy (SNBC) in 2015, which sets out the reduction targets for 2030 and 2050 for each sector of the French economy^[5]. This was followed by a decarbonization plan in 2023, Ecological Planning, providing a more detailed description of the reduction measures needed to achieve the targets for each sector by 2030.

Eight years later (2015–2023), the results are quite encouraging, according to the latest CITEPA report. The report reveals that the French regional broadcasts excluding UTCATF (Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry) have decreased since 2015 (see Figure 2), with a significant reduction in 2023 that will enable the SNBC to meet its target of a 17% reduction between 2015 and 2023^[6].

If we focus on In the construction sector, performance was in line with expectations as defined by the SNBC (Scope 1 for buildings^[7]): The reduction recorded was 27% between 2015 and 2022, compared with the expected 21% (see Figure 3)^[8]. On the other hand, although the construction industry (materials and equipment used in construction and renovation – Scope 3 for buildings) and the electricity and heat sector (Scope 2 emissions from buildings) have been identified as having significant decarbonization potential; these are far from having met the expected objectives by the SNBC, as shown in Figure 3 below.

With regard to building usage, the reductions observed are the result of guidelines issued by the sector, which we detail later in this article.

Emissions related to building use decreased by 12 MtCO2e between 2019 and 2022

The strategies for decarbonizing the building sector are now well known, and they have reached a sufficient level of maturity to be implemented. The barriers to their implementation are primarily economic, incentive-related, and organizational in nature, aimed at ensuring that every stakeholder benefits. Thus, most of the criticism directed at the sector’s apparent inertia in decarbonizing focuses on the need for financing and structural reforms within the sector (training, employment), as illustrated by recurring criticisms of the ineffectiveness of public subsidies, which are deemed too disparate or too complex (Anah and CITE subsidies, precursors to MaPrimeRénov’) and lacking clear direction (regarding which energy sources to install or the number of renovations required).

To better formalize and organize the implementation of these measures, the SGPE has developed, as part of the Ecological Planning process, a decarbonization plan for the sector focused on the end-use side^[9]. The plan makes it possible to determine the contribution of each of the major drivers and to guide the selection of equipment or construction projects to be implemented in the park. A progress report was published in 2024^[10].

The encouraging trend in operational emissions described above can be attributed not only to favorable climatic and economic conditions but also to the implementation of regulatory measures. Thus, the CITEPA report^[11] and the SGPE report cites several reasons for the decline in emissions during the 2019–2022 period:

• The milder weather results in lower heating consumption in the winter (contributing 25% to the recorded reduction in emissions);
• The political and economic context led to a rise in energy prices and theinflation, which inevitably affects the occupants' energy consumption (accounting for 15%);
• Policy guidelines have helped reduce energy consumption by promoting energy-efficiency renovation projects and the energy conservation policies (60% contribution).

At the same time, the reduction in emissions associated with these effects is offset by an increase in heated floor space, which can be attributed both to population growth and to an increase in floor space per capita (due, among other things, to the rise in the number of vacant housing units and second homes). Overall, this results in a reduction of 12 MtCO2e in building-related emissions between 2019 and 2022 (See Figure 5).

Public policies have thus played an important role in reducing emissions, accounting for 60% of the reduction, as mentioned above. The box at the end of the article summarizes the main ones.

Nevertheless, there are still challenges to overcome. The IFD report^[12] highlights, for example, the administrative and financial difficulties encountered by households or condominium associations when undertaking a renovation plan, even though it is the cornerstone of the sector's decarbonization^[13], or the lack of energy performance assessments and financial assistance programs for commercial buildings.

The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC): An Example of a Significant Public Policy Tool for Decarbonizing Buildings

The construction sector is currently one of the most heavily regulated sectors when it comes to carbon emissions. These regulations can be enforced thanks to the existence of public policy instruments : The EN 15978 standard for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of buildings enables compliance with the requirements set forth in RE2020; the OPERAT platform is used to track the energy consumption of commercial buildings eligible under the Eco-Energy Tertiary Decree, while the Energy Performance Certificate (DPE) is used to assess the energy and carbon performance of the building stock.

Let's take a moment to consider this last point. Although it is well known to everyone, it is often called into question because we would like to make it into something it is not.

Let’s first take a look at the history of the DPE. It was created in 2006 following the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (DPEB), adopted in 2002 by the European Union, which required a method for calculating the energy performance of buildings across all EU countries. The DPE then became mandatory for real estate listings in France in 2010 with the enactment of the Grenelle Law. In 2021, the DPE was reformed to make it more comprehensive, easier to understand, and fully enforceable^[14]. Finally, the recent decree of April 2024 modifies the calculation for housing units smaller than 40 m², citing the disproportionately high number of energy-inefficient homes in this category.

Let's be clear about the role of the DPE: It was created to evaluate the building's performance, regardless of its intended use.^[15]. It thus addresses the government’s need to identify buildings with lower energy efficiency in order to best target renovation efforts. The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is therefore not intended to predict a building's actual energy consumption. Indeed, if we take the example of a household experiencing energy poverty: energy consumption might be low due to financial constraints, even though the building’s energy performance is poor. The DPE cannot, therefore, be used to track the SNBC's greenhouse gas reduction targets based on actual consumption. His role is to assess the intrinsic performance of the French real estate market in order to enablethe development of a national renovation plan.

Given its long history, it is a tool that all stakeholders have now embraced. Its widespread adoption is an asset, as it allows everyone—from individuals to real estate professionals—to engage with the issue of climate change using a simple tool (rated A through G). Its influence is growing even more now that it impacts the real estate market by affecting market value and negotiation rates, and is explicitly referenced in legislation on the thermal renovation of buildings as defined in the Climate and Resilience Act. Examples include: a rent freeze for housing units rated F or G effective August 2022; a ban on renting out housing units rated G starting in 2025; F in 2028, and E in 2034; and the requirement for owners of properties rated F or G to conduct a regulatory energy audit, which will be extended to properties rated E and D in 2025 and 2034, respectively.

By focusing efforts on eliminating energy-inefficient buildings, the DPE is not only a tool for advancing environmental policy, but also for social policy to combat energy poverty.

To increase its effectiveness, the DPE could be supplemented, as proposed by the Ifpeb^[16] systematic feedback on post-renovation performance and on the energy and cost efficiency of the measures taken, in order to improve our understanding of the impact of renovation projects and strive to achieve the best cost-effectiveness ratio per MWh of CO2e avoided.

Conclusion

Over the past fifteen years or so, the construction sector has undergone a transformation, gradually implementing measures to curb its energy consumption and, subsequently, its greenhouse gas emissions, culminating today in a structured decarbonization plan that is beginning to yield encouraging results.

Such a framework requires clarifying the targets to be achieved (-95% by 2050 compared to 2015 for building energy use), a focus on existing solutions accessible to various stakeholders (phasing out fossil fuels, improving building energy efficiency, reusing materials), the creation of a supportive regulatory framework (the Climate and Resilience Act for residential buildings, the Elan Act for commercial buildings), and finally, the development of tools to support the implementation of these regulations (e.g., MaPrimeRénov’, DPE).

This framework is fluid and will continue to evolve as the plan is effectively implemented and in response to changes in the political, economic, social, and environmental context. The Energy Performance Diagnosis (DPE) framework is one such example: it provides the sector with the tools to develop a renovation plan that addresses climate challenges and energy poverty, and it must adapt to regulatory, scientific, and technical developments.

Implementing the ambitious plan to decarbonize the building sector, however, still requires far-reaching changes. Among the tools the sector could adopt, we have highlighted here the need for monitoring systems that allow for a comparison of actual energy consumption with theoretical consumption in buildings, in order to better understand the technical, financial, and behavioral constraints that currently limit the ability to achieve energy and carbon reduction targets.