A key deadline: the declaration before September 30, 2025
The tertiary decree requires owners and operators of tertiary buildings of more than 1,000 m² a gradual reduction in their energy consumption. With an objective, either in absolute value according to the typology of buildings, or in relative value compared to a reference year:
- 40 % by 2030
- 50 % by 2040
- 60 % by 2050
One of the major obligations is the annual declaration of energy consumption on the Ademe Operat platform, which must be carried out before September 30, 2025 for consumption of the year 2024.
This deadline is all the more crucial since since the beginning of 2025 you have received your first notes from Tertiary Eco Energy, allowing to assess the progress of your buildings to their objectives.
Failure to comply with this obligation can lead to a formal notice by the prefect and, in the long term, a publication on the "black list" of non -compliant sites, harming the valuation of real estate heritage.
Modulate its objectives: a supervised possibility
Although the objectives of the tertiary decree are ambitious, a modulation is possible but under certain strict conditions. It makes it possible to adapt the obligations to the specific constraints of a building.
What reasons for modulation are admissible?
Article R.174-26 of the Construction and Housing Code provides for several criteria to modulate consumption objectives:
1. Architectural, heritage or technical constraints
- Technical impossibility of significantly improving insulation.
- Building classification as a historic monument, limiting possible work.
- Structural risks linked to certain renovations.
- A building initially little consumer of energy can see its consumption increase due to a change of activity (e.g. office transformation into laboratories). It is then suitable for Operat to modify the indicators of intensity of use.
3. Economic disproportion
- If the return on investment of the work exceeds certain thresholds, the consumption objective can be revised downwards.
- The thresholds considered are 10 years for active management systems of equipment, 15 years for the renewal of energy equipment and 30 years for the renovations of the envelope .
How to constitute a modulation file?
- The file must be technically solid and justified by relying on an energy audit to be admissible. Here are the main steps:
Definition of a reference scenario
- Define a scenario of Energetic Performance Actions (APE) allowing the achievement of the objective in absolute value (expressed in kWh/m²/year)
Identification of specific constraints
- Present a detailed audit showing technical, architectural or economic impossibilities.
Proposal for a modulated scenario
- Determine a new objective in absolute value based on possible actions by removing the impossible APE for technical, heritage or economic disproportion.
- Calculate the impact of achievable measures and their return on investment for each APE.
Good practices to remember:
✔ A detailed energy audit produced by an AFNOR and OPQIBI certified design office as sober energy is essential to justify a modulation + a circumstantial opinion of architect if necessary
✔ Economic analysis must demonstrate the impossibility of achieving objectives without disproportionate investments.
✔ The technical folder is developed at a relevant functional level (for example, on a building scale) and may therefore concern several taxable persons. Energy studies can be carried out on a building sample
✔ The approach must be anticipated to carry out the energy audit identifying the site with potential modulation, identifying the specific constraints, establishing the modulated scenario and finally submitting the conclusions of the modulation file on the Operat platform of ADEME. All before September 30, 2027:
Conclusion: Anticipate to better control the energy transition
The modulation of the objectives of the tertiary decree is an important lever for owners and operators, but it requires a rigorous and justified approach. By now anticipating the 2025 declaration on Operat and by making a structured energy audit, it is possible to optimize its strategy and ensure regulatory compliance.
Need support? Solutions exist, in particular via experts in energy efficiency as sober energy, which offers digital tools and strategic support to succeed in this transition.