On like to say that “when the building goes, everything goes”. But at the time of organizing its decarbonization, few people say that all is well in the construction industry, a sector responsible for 40% of carbon dioxide emissions in the European Union. Companies are struggling to project themselves, for lack of sufficiently precise public policies. What funding, what obligations, what biases? They see a course, but neither the route nor the milestones to plan their transition in terms of skills management, technological developments and business models.
Everyone recognizes that we will use carbon-free materials and that we will build fewer new structures, with a lower share of individual houses to artificialise the soil less. Tomorrow’s markets will be those of efficient renovation, to lower energy bills and adapt to heat waves, and the conversion of offices (less used with the rise of teleworking) into housing and multifunctional places.
But there is still a step to be taken to transform these qualitative trends into credible quantitative planning, with financial resources aligned with specific ambitions. Without this visibility, companies hesitate to invest. The legal definition of what constitutes an efficient renovation is too variable in geometry. Works, financial and training needs will be very different in five, ten or twenty years, if we want to switch all energy class E, F and G housing to class D, or if we want 30 % of dwellings reach a Class B level in one go.
Bets to take
To renovate much more and much better, the number of jobs will have to be multiplied by 2.5. A major subject as 30% of craftsmen will retire in the next ten years and the sector is struggling to recruit. Three paths are possible: retraining craftsmen from new construction, retraining employees from industries in decline or training young people. Organizing it requires clarity on what you want to do: what work, what performance levels, what types of buildings, in what territories and in what number per year? An abundance of plasterers in Alsace does not solve a shortage of electricians in Ariège. There will also be positions to fill to coordinate these different trades and to improve architectural quality.
Companies have bets to take: towards a majority of specialized journeymen, some installing insulation and others heat pumps, or towards a majority of versatile journeymen, trained in plumbing, electricity, carpentry ? Should construction methods be adapted to the skills of the companions, or should they be trained in new techniques? The fact of pouring raw earth or throwing hemp concrete resembles the gestures of someone who knows how to pour concrete, whereas it is quite another thing to build in wood, in straw, or to deconstruct in order to reuse. Switching tasks from the site to the factory, with the rise of prefabrication, will also facilitate the development of female employment, today less than 15% in construction but 45% in industry.
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