France is currently experiencing an exceptional heat wave for the season, with particularly high temperatures. This unusual situation causes the early closure of numerous schools, whose infrastructure can no longer guarantee acceptable comfort for students and teaching staff.
State of the
Increasingly frequent precocious heat waves
The climatic disruption leads to a significant increase in early heat wave episodes. According to Météo France, the frequency of heat waves has doubled over the past twenty years, and their intensity has been increasing. Before 1989, France recorded on average 1.7 days of heat wave per year. This figure has increased to 8 days between 2000 and 2015, and now reached 9.4 days a year on average over the last decade. These episodes are no longer exceptional and become recurrent and earlier, directly impacting the well-being, health and school performance of students.
An energy and major comfort issue for schools
The current heat wave has led to the partial or total closure of more than 1000 schools in France, due to learning conditions deemed unbearable.
The majority of French schools have not been built taking into account the high summer heat, and even fewer regular and early heat waves. It is estimated today that almost 75 % of French schools suffer from insufficient thermal insulation, with infrastructure often over 40 years old, completely unsuitable for current climatic conditions.
This poor adaptation has direct consequences: interior temperatures that can reach or even exceed 30 ° C, insufficient ventilation, the absence of effective devices to manage solar protections or the frequent use of energy air conditioners.
In addition to the objective of the tertiary decree which requires educational establishments, to gradually reduce their energy consumption (by 40% by 2030, 50% by 2040 and 60% by 2050), the concept of summer comfort thus becomes a major issue, not only for health but also for the energy costs of communities.
Solutions
Adapt the school organization to the heat
Beyond technical and energy solutions, organizational levers can also be considered to limit the impact of heat waves on students and educational staff. Several avenues are currently discussed or experienced in certain communities:
- Advanced the end of the school year: finishing courses in mid-June would avoid the hottest period of the year.
- Adapting class schedules: Starting lessons earlier in the morning and finishing them before afternoon heat peaks could significantly improve the comfort and concentration of students.
- Make class outside: in areas with parks or shaded spaces, outdoor teaching can offer a more pleasant framework and less exposed to heat effects, while promoting different pedagogy.
These solutions, although dependent on the local context and the available resources, can effectively supplement energy renovation actions by providing rapid and pragmatic responses to increasingly frequent scorching episodes.
Finance the energy renovation of schools
If the desire to modernize school buildings is strong, funding remains a major obstacle for many communities. To support them in this transition, several support devices exist.
Edurénov program , launched by the State as part of the Green Fund, aims to accelerate the energy renovation of 10,000 schools by 2022 by funding audits, energy performance work and summer comfort solutions. It is part of the government's ecological planning strategy and makes it possible to mobilize both public and private funds.
Another mobilizable tool: the global energy performance market (MGPE PD). This contractual system allows communities to entrust a single operator with the design, realization, operation and maintenance of renovation work with a performance commitment. It secures long-term energy result and facilitates access to funding via public-private partnerships.
These mechanisms make it possible to initiate ambitious renovations to improve summer comfort and to comply with the objectives of the tertiary decree.
Sober Energy: support communities to meet these challenges
Faced with this emergency, Sobre Energy provides communities its expertise to meet both the requirements of the tertiary decree and the challenges posed by summer comfort in schools. Thanks to precise energy diagnostics and a dedicated energy management platform Datamarc Neo, our teams can quickly identify improvement levers and follow the energy performance of buildings over time.
Our global approach includes in particular:
- the most relevant EPAs
- Aid to compliance with the tertiary decree , by ensuring the regular monitoring of reduction objectives via our intuitive, collaborative and efficient energy management platform
- A tailor-made engagement program , to involve all the actors concerned in the success of the energy sobriety approach.
In a context where heat waves will continue to intensify, it is essential for communities to engage today in a proactive and lasting approach.
Sober Energy is there to support you and thus ensure the comfort, safety and energy performance of long -term schools.
Sources:
Météo France - Statistics of heat waves
National Geographic - Canicular Cycles in France
The world - school closures due to the heat wave
Statista - Number of heat waves in France