Report on the energy performance of buildings: how can the rule be modulated to better reach the goals?

By laying down the energy consumption norm in future buildings at 50 kWh of primary energy per square meter per year, Article 4 of the Act of 3 August 2009 implementing the Grenelle environmental roundtable talks entrusted the Parliamentary Office for Scientific and Technological Assessment (OPECST) with the mission of proposing a modulation of this norm, so as in particular to encourage the decrease in greenhouse gas emissions. A rapid response was required to guide the drafting of the implementing decrees. By making an early referral to the National Assembly Economic Affairs Committee in March 2009, Messrs. Christian Bataille and Claude Birraux, deputies appointed by the OPECST to carry out this study, were able to start their investigations early enough, before the final vote on the legislation, to transmit their conclusions on 2 December 2009, meaning they could be taken into account during the drafting of the implementing decrees.