Energy audit: regulations

Any homeowner wishing to sell or rent their property must, among other things, commission an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) from a certified professional.
This assessment tool evaluates, using a rating system from "A" (highly energy-efficient) to "G" (particularly energy-inefficient), the energy consumption of a dwelling or building and its greenhouse gas emissions.
The sale of a property rated E, F, or G by the EPC must now be accompanied by another document: the mandatory energy audit.

The energy audit was established under Law No. 2021-1104 of August 22, 2021, concerning the fight against climate change and the strengthening of resilience.
It provides a detailed assessment of a property's energy and environmental performance. This document primarily aims to raise awareness among prospective buyers about ecological and energy transition issues and to guide them by suggesting scenarios for improving the property's performance.
The energy audit is valid for five years, compared to ten years for the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) (with some exceptions).
The energy audit applies to owners of detached houses and multi-unit buildings belonging to a single owner that are offered for sale.
The requirement to carry out this audit affects properties classified as E, F, or G in metropolitan France.
This requirement will then be extended to properties classified as D from January 1, 2034.

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Goals

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This initiative aims to encourage energy efficiency improvements in buildings. Its goal is to enable owners to better understand their building's energy performance and undertake targeted energy-saving projects. The audit also aims to:

- Assess the thermal characteristics of the building and its technical equipment (particularly heating, ventilation, and domestic hot water).
- Analyze energy consumption.
- Analyze maintenance, operation, and energy supply contracts.
- Analyze the functioning of the installations.
- Anticipate increases in energy prices.
- Identify all possible improvements.

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Procedure

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The energy audit takes place in five stages:

• Current situation
• Data analysis
• Recommendations and improvement programs
• Financial analysis
• Drafting the report and presenting the summary.

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The property condition report should not be overlooked. It's not just about examining the building itself. Legislation requires the auditor to conduct a survey among the co-owners and meet with a number of them. This step allows the auditor to understand the co-owners' concerns regarding the occupancy of their building:
general appearance, acoustic comfort, overheating or underheating, humidity, ventilation, etc.
Occupants are more aware than anyone of building malfunctions.

The inventory continues with an examination of the building structure (walls, floors, roof, and exterior joinery) and the systems installed within it (ventilation, heating and domestic hot water production systems, and the electrical system for common areas). The inventory provides a comprehensive description of the building, its systems, and their operation (including settings). For example, in the boiler room, the operation of the boilers is examined (type and control device, setpoint temperature, heating curve, etc.).

The analysis of the collected data aims to compare the calculation of the building's theoretical energy needs obtained by simulation software with actual consumption (over 3 years based on heating degree days). Discrepancies are analyzed and may reveal malfunctions, which are then investigated in order to implement corrective measures.

Following this analysis, recommendations are formulated. These relate in particular to the conditions of use and best operation of the building, the building envelope, the heating and ventilation systems, the opportunity to use renewable energies…
The recommendations must be prioritized, justified and grouped into different scenarios with energy savings, return on investment and calculation of energy saving certificates and other potential subsidies.

A report is written and a clear summary of the audit is prepared so that its results can be understood by everyone at the general meeting of co-owners.