Property developers and their carbon footprint

Until the end of 2021, Thermal Regulation RT2012 set high performance targets for building design, comfort and energy consumption. This year, this regulation is being replaced by RE2020, which pursues the targets of RT2012 but goes further, by taking into consideration all the emissions from new buildings over their entire life cycle: from construction to end of life, including the operating phase.

hese standards are obviously necessary and meet the expectations of buyers, who are increasingly sensitive to the impact of the buildings they occupy on the environment. But they are also changing the way property developers work, as they have to adapt to a whole range of new and sometimes tricky issues.

Adapting to the pace of the market and regulations

At a time when the market is particularly buoyant, with a high level of pressure on the property market and the need to build quickly and at reasonable cost, environmental requirements and their frequency are tending to slow down new builds and drive up prices.

Against this backdrop, the relationship between builders and developers is changing. While the use of low-carbon materials has almost become a reflex, new habits could also emerge, such as choosing builders committed to responsible practices: using zero-carbon energy on building sites and for transporting materials, sorting and recycling waste, reusing materials demolished on site, integrating nature and biodiversity into projects, creating short supply chains, etc.

Many builders have already taken this type of initiative, which limits the carbon footprint of both sites and buildings, and which may one day be included as a clause in the contract with developers.

Will there soon be a carbon index specific to the property sector?

By the same token, developers are increasingly turning to the redevelopment of industrial and agricultural wasteland. As key players in the transformation of towns and cities, they see this as an opportunity to limit the direct impact on the environment of these derelict sites, sometimes in the middle of nature. Rehabilitation operations involve cleaning up the land and, above all, the possibility of reusing some of the existing structures to give them a new lease of life.

In an attempt to prepare for future regulations, it is not unlikely that developers will soon have to calculate the carbon footprint of the homes they offer. If this were the case, the calculation would take account of a number of criteria of varying scope, from the construction of the building and/or to its use, to enable future users to know all the details over the long term.

Under the supervision of ADEME (French Environment and Energy Management Agency), four professional sectors are already voluntarily taking part in the roll-out of environmental labelling in France: clothing, furniture, hotels, electrical and electronic products, so why not the property sector? Watch this space!

Nicolas Biais,
Primpromo Director