Renovation, a major issue in the building sector

More so than new constructions, energy renovations to buildings is a must to achieve carbon neutrality. As one of the priorities of the recovery plan, it is also a good opportunity to innovate, create jobs and improve living conditions. 

When we think of sustainable building, we immediately think of new ways to build anew. Especially given that the RE2020 regulation, which will enter into force on 1 January 2022, sets out criteria for reducing the carbon footprint of construction and taking account of the life cycle of materials, in addition to establishing energy sobriety goals. 

But this is perhaps not the most important issue tackled by the sector in a bid to drastically reduce energy and material consumption. “In this regard, the challenge is not construction but rather renovation. France has 35 million housing units. We build 350,000 new units every year, meeting RT2012 criteria. We renovate 300,000 units per year, but barely 10% of these renovations provide a sufficient energy level to meet low carbon objectives. This is a major issue: how can we ramp up and massify energy renovations across France to embark on a trajectory towards carbon neutrality? We are late because the market demand for energy renovation is very low”, observes Frédéric Betbeder, head of innovative services for Nobatek Inef4, the Institute for Energy Transition dedicated to the Construction sector in Anglet. 

An observation also made by David Sinnasse, a sustainable construction engineer for Nouvelle Aquitaine cluster, the Odeys eco-habitat. “Renovation should be central to sustainable construction because it tackles several issues: climate, pollution, waste, but also land development, employment, solidarity, the fight against precariousness as well as culture and heritage. Today, we are extremely focused on renewable energies, but without sobriety, it won’t be enough. The good news is that there are solutions that work in the construction sector, and particularly in renovation”. 

Re-use of materials

Sustainable renovation provides interesting answers to the fight against climate change and resource management, particularly as regards materials. A rehabilitated building logically uses less materials than a new construction. Moreover, some materials can be re-used for other purposes. Based on this observation, in 2019, Olivier Hirigoyen and Julien Simon created Patxa’ma, an associative structure (soon to be transformed into a SCIC) which works to collect and re-use materials on construction and renovation sites. “The core of our activity is deconstruction. We come in prior to the demolition or renovation phase to carefully remove materials before refurbishing them and reselling them at a solidarity price. This applies to anything that can be recovered: windows, wooden doors, light fixtures, plumbing, etc. We also work with a partner demolisher for stone”, explains Olivier Hirigoyen. “We sell as much to private individuals as we do to professionals, whose interest is growing as materials become scarce and prices are rising”. 

The structure, which works alongside social landlords, municipalities and the Pays Basque Community, hopes to soon create a re-use shop to further promote this circular economy solution. It has already created three jobs and is a good example of the perspectives that can be offered by renovation in terms of creating local activities and jobs. 

Job creation

Because sustainable renovation can be a key factor of local economic development and skill improvement. “Rehabilitation requires more brain power than new builds. It requires more detailed knowledge of what exists, with more extensive diagnostics, and skill development, from the design phase to the execution phase. In renovation, the cost of a project shifts from materials to qualified labour” says David Sinnasse. 

In fact, the Odeys cluster offers technical training courses which are particularly suited to rehabilitation, and notably courses on circular economy and eco-materials. “We are lucky to have companies that are skilled and know how to carry out energy renovation works at building level. These SMEs need to be able to find a structure to come together to tackle a large contract which they could not have taken on alone. With the recovery plan and the significant energy renovation works on public buildings and universities that this plan involves, as well as the implementation of the Ma Prime Rénov mechanism, this will become an important economic driver. To this end, project owners with buildings to renovate must show ambition and launch energy renovation works as have social landlords, for example”, emphasises Frédéric Betbeder. 

A social issue

While it helps fight climate change, renovation also provides an answer to some major social issues such as access to housing or living conditions. This is demonstrated by the initiatives carried out by the winners of the 2021 Pritzker award, Anne Lacaton and Jean Philippe Vassel: their efforts to rehabilitate existing buildings, such as in the Grand Parc city in Bordeaux, have not only improved the energy efficiency of these housing units but has also raised living conditions with the creation of winter gardens and balconies on the facades of these 1950s buildings. These initiatives also highlight the importance of considering renovation on a large scale. For Frédéric Betbeder, “tomorrow’s challenge will not be to renovate building by building, but instead in blocks or even entire neighbourhoods. Energy efficiency will develop in a broader framework. Energy performance has many advantages, from an urban redevelopment perspective. The topic of energy is a central one, but it cannot be considered alone. It is part of a broader approach which also involves inhabitants’ adoption of and involvement in the project”. 

Massification of renovation

While renovation must necessarily be ramped up, there is an issue surrounding construction methods. Within the Odeys cluster, the EnergieSpong project aims to massify energy renovations according to a semi-industrial approach involving digital technology and prefabrication. For its part, Nobatek is implementing a method to accompany local authorities with their plan to renovate at neighbourhood-level and is preparing to industrialise its Batisol solution, a facade which combines insulation and solar energy production. Another initiative is being developed by the Tikoam architecture studio, housed in the Arkinova activity generator, and which develops custom secondary and structural works products by harnessing the power of digital tools. All these examples show that sustainable renovation is also a source of innovation.