The third National Low-Carbon Strategy sets a target of 700,000 energy-efficient renovations per year between 2025 and 2030, including 250,000 major renovations targeting the least energy-efficient homes. In addition to the technical goals set for the building sector, the government’s roadmap also addresses the resources needed to turn this ambition into actual projects: skills, support for businesses, and investment capacity.
More than 200,000 people need to be trained each year for the transition
This transition does not rely solely on equipment or materials. It also requires professionals who are capable of designing, coordinating, implementing, and maintaining new low-carbon solutions.
According to SNBC-3, More than 200,000 people will need to be trained each year in jobs that support the ecological transition. This need applies to all sectors involved in decarbonization, not just the construction industry. The document notes, however, that these jobs will primarily be for technicians and laborers.
For the government, the key challenges include making these jobs more attractive, engaging economic sectors, and adapting training programs. The strategy also emphasizes the need to address needs on a regional basis and to facilitate access to training.
In the construction industry, this issue is directly linked to the expected shift in scale in the renovation sector. Successful projects bring together a range of expertise in areas such as building envelopes, ventilation, window and door systems, and energy-related equipment. The ability to coordinate these efforts will therefore be a key factor in implementing the announced strategy.
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SNBC-3 also includes a section dedicated to businesses. It aims to increase the visibility of decarbonization incentives and to take the size of organizations into account when applying the rules. Specific support for Small Businesses and SMEs is explicitly mentioned.
This initiative is particularly relevant to a sector of the construction industry that consists of many small businesses. For these businesses, the transition may involve acquiring new equipment, providing training, changing work methods, or adapting to the environmental requirements of the markets.
At the same time, the strategy aims to better integrate environmental planning into training programs for executives. It also calls for ’exploring ways« to strengthen the eco-conditionality of aid to businesses. At this stage, however, the document does not set out any new mandatory criteria or a specific timeline on this point.
Support for professionals thus emerges as a key driver in its own right. The increase in the number of renovation projects will not depend solely on demand from households or project owners; there must also be a sufficient number of companies capable of carrying out the work.
80 billion euros in additional investment across all sectors
The third challenge is financial. According to SNBC-3, achieving the ecological transition goals would require 80 billion euros in additional gross investment per year in 2030 compared to 2024. This estimate covers the entire low-carbon transition and therefore does not represent a budget set aside specifically for the building sector or energy-efficiency renovations.
The strategy calls for the joint mobilization of public and private funding. It specifically mentions public-private partnerships, hybrid financing mechanisms, energy savings certificates, and the Low-Carbon Label. Financial support must also be extended to households—particularly low-income households—as well as businesses and local governments.
However, the official summary does not specify what portion of the additional investments will be allocated to the building sector, nor how that portion will be divided among residential renovations, commercial buildings, and public buildings. Nor does it provide a detailed budgetary roadmap for achieving the goal of 700,000 energy-efficient renovations per year.
The SNBC-3 therefore sets a volume target, but achieving it will also depend on the ability to train, finance, and support businesses called upon to carry out the work. This is an equation that will play out differently depending on the region, and it directly raises the question of how this strategy will be implemented in the overseas territories.