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France considers changes to DPE certificates over summer heat
The certificates are needed when properties are sold or rented
Published
This year’s multiple heatwaves could prompt the government to again reform the diagnostic de performance énergétique (DPE) certificates needed when properties are sold or rented out long-term.
As temperatures soared across the country, news reports increasingly focused on residents enduring temperatures of more than 30C in their own homes.
In a paradox that reporters were quick to jump on, some of these readings were in new buildings with the top-rated A-certification for energy efficiency.
Residents who were interviewed speculated that the buildings were so well insulated and ventilation systems so sophisticated that heat could not escape, creating oven-like conditions.
Other cases featured flats or chambres de bonnes on the top floor of Haussmann-style buildings, close to zinc roofs.
‘Thermal kettles’ and summer comfort
A new term – bouilloires thermiques (literally ‘thermal kettles’) – was used to describe homes and buildings that trap and retain heat.
It provides a direct counterpart to the more established term passoires thermiques (‘thermal sieves’), which describes poorly insulated homes that are expensive to heat in winter.
Housing minister Vincent Jeanbrun was questioned in parliament about the problem in mid-July.
“We are working on it now, with the intention to present, in the coming months, a DPE score reflecting confort d’été, which will inform our citizens of the performance of their housing in winter as well as in summer.”
No mention of the proposed reform has appeared on official government websites.
When The Connexion asked the housing ministry in August if there had been any progress, it referred us back to the original statement.
Possible changes in 2028
A consultation on possible changes to the DPE system, which will include a summer comfort indicator, was in place even before the minister’s announcement, industry professionals say.
Steven Annonziata, of OneDpe, a DPE consultancy and research company, said: “We have been told to prepare for changes in 2028, but there is no guidance as to how they will be implemented.
“For example, we do not know if a poor summer comfort score will result in the same sort of bans on renting out properties or require the extra energy audits you now have with a poor DPE.”
This year, the housing ministry eased the bans on renting out properties classed in the worst F and G categories, as long as owners promise to carry out work to improve the score within three years – or five for co-owned buildings (copropriétés).
DPE already includes summer comfort
Since a 2021 reform of the DPE, the certificate does currently contain a separate summer-comfort indicator.
It rates the property on a simple three-level scale – insuffisant (insufficient), moyen (average), or bon (good) – and lists the specific features that can potentially help or hurt ratings (window orientation, thermal mass/inertia, cross-ventilation, roof insulation).
Confort d’été measures only passive comfort – how a building performs without air conditioning, considering ventilation, shading and thermal mass.
It does not affect the headline A-G DPE grade, which mainly reflects winter heating and energy use.
Research by OneDpe found the current confort d’été line in certificates rated 16.6% of properties as good, 43.2% as average, and 40.2% as insufficient.
Mr Annonziata said guidance was limited, with nearly 20% of ratings inconsistent with reported survey features.
The system also ignores location: northern Roubaix scored particularly poorly, despite hotter southern areas and urban heat islands such as Paris often experiencing greater summer discomfort.
