HAShen local authorities are struggling to balance their 2023 budget, the imperatives of environmental and climate transition require them to make an unprecedented effort for the energy renovation work of the buildings for which they are responsible.
We, local elected representatives from all territories, from the most urban to the most rural, are confronted with two contradictory injunctions, that of preserving and that of adapting or transforming a considerable set of real estate assets.
Old buildings are often the responsibility of local authorities. It should be remembered that they own more than 40% of the classified or registered heritage (the State only owns 3% or 4%). However, renovation work on historic sites and their environment – old districts, classified sectors, remarkable heritage sites, historic monuments, world heritage, etc. – to adapt them to climate change and the requirements of the energy transition, are at the sadness.
A dual requirement
Not only do inflation and the rise in the cost of energy make construction budgets considerably more expensive, but they continue to come up against a body of regulations that is sometimes obsolete in the face of the challenges we are going through.
In addition, this heritage building has acquired in our territories a collective use of public service: high schools and colleges, town halls, post offices, hospitals, museums, operas… This local heritage plays an essential role in daily life. The same applies to old city centers whose apartments will soon be deserted, their owners having given up, faced with the exorbitant costs of rehabilitation work in the protected sector, to rent them. How to finance their adaptation to the ecological transition which is imposed on our societies?
Current music venues, cinemas, theatres, libraries…: the list is long of cultural facilities built before the current energy saving standards came into effect. Countless renovation projects are needed. And here again, the rise in energy prices combined with inflation inflates the cost of work, while doubling the operating weight of this equipment.
Local authorities must simultaneously take into account the requirements of energy sobriety and anticipate the consequences of climate change. A double requirement which they will not be able to meet without new financial contributions and without a radical updating of the procedures and means of managing old heritage.
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