In terms of carbon neutrality, the Elysee is a bad student, according to a survey by the magazine We Demain, to be published Friday, November 26. On a scale from A to G, “both in terms of carbon and energy efficiency, we are rather near the end than near the beginning”, regret François Siegel, director of the publication. He calls the palace to “lead by example”.
franceinfo: Why did you do this survey?
François Siegel: It is the palace, it is the castle, it is the place of the Republic, it is almost he who should set the example. And when we know that in this quest for carbon neutrality, which is a dream that becomes a little more inaccessible every day, energy savings, energy efficiency is one of the essential points, we said to ourselves that it would be well to see if this place of the Republic sets the example.
When we look closely at the energy diagnosis, the results are not very good …
The grades are not very good. The figures are, I hope, not questionable because first of all, they come from the technical services of the Élysée, which lent themselves to the game with a lot of clarity and transparency. You really have to admit it. All figures have been given. Afterwards, we called on two consulting companies specializing in energy climate balances to analyze these figures. We can see that on their endowment scale, which goes from A to G both in terms of carbon and energy efficiency, we are rather near the end rather than near the beginning. Obviously, energy efficiency has not been a priority. So we will say that we had to renovate, restore. Nicolas Sarkozy said that he found the palace in a lamentable state and therefore that it was indeed necessary to bring it up to date.
Heating is still very worrying because overall, we have obviously gone from an oil-fired boiler to a gas-fired boiler.
Francois Siegelto franceinfo
Today, the French who heat themselves with gas know that the price is not going down. There was no globally concerted strategy on this energy balance.
Soft mobility, responsible consumption, recycling, the Élysée has implemented a green policy. Is it display?
It is good to make electric bicycles available to employees as well as electric cars or to ban plastic cups. It seems to me to be absolutely essential, even a priority. Afterwards, we obviously do not tackle the fat and the essential. I think it would be a great challenge to show that overall, this palace can set an example in terms of innovation and energy transformation.
What does the Élysée say to you?
We replied that there had been and that there was work in progress, that we were indeed going to be interested in air circulation to avoid technical losses, etc. It’s a very complicated job. Perhaps it will also be necessary to ask the Commission des monuments historique to relax a certain number of standards. It is true that it is difficult, but in terms of exemplarity, we are not there.