04-11-2019
The building sector is a heavy burden on the country's energy balance and contributes up to one quarter of the greenhouse gas emissions that are responsible for global warming. Twenty million homes in France are affected by the implementation of energy refurbishment works. The French government has set an ambitious target of refurbishing 500,000 homes every year in order to eradicate the many houses that are "leaking heat" and which are occupied by disadvantaged households.
The Economie d’Energie group specialises in creating digital platforms and programmes to widen access to and facilitate energy refurbishment for both private individuals and companies, working alongside the largest players in the market. The company was created in 2011 and, notably, has financed the implementation of more than 600,000 refurbishment projects by means of energy saving certificates. It has 250 employees and generated revenue of €86 million in 2018.
Since 2017, La Poste has been supporting local authorities in their housing refurbishment initiatives. In 2019, it formed a partnership with Economie d’Energie in order to extend its services to private individuals owning individual homes. Specifically, following a postman-led awareness raising exercise, interested households are able to benefit from work at special negotiated prices. These include an advance on the amount of the subsidies available to them and for which La Poste and Economie d’Energie prepare the applications. This support is comprehensive and free of charge. With the advance on the amount of the grants for which they can apply, the poorest households can undertake their projects from only €1, whether home insulation works (roof, external walls and below ground floor level) or a replacement boiler.
Through this acquisition, La Poste is consolidating its initiatives to support energy refurbishment. Economie d’Energie becomes a La Poste subsidiary and brings to the Group eight years of expertise and business models developed to address energy issues. In addition to EDE's know-how in terms of customer relations management, expertise in dealing with administrative issues, the creation of digital tools and heating expertise, Le Groupe La Poste possesses all of the skills to enable it to support public and institutional policies in the energy transition field.
The combination of Economie d’Energie's know-how, La Poste's neutral status and the trust placed in postmen will simplify administrative processes and increase the number of households that take action and carry out energy refurbishment projects on their homes.
"I'm very proud to be backed by a recognised and committed group like La Poste which enjoys enormous trust and considerable financial strength. Our position as a supporter of energy efficiency calls on us to significantly increase the number of energy refurbishment and optimisation projects alongside our traditional partners, private individuals and companies. We and La Poste share the same values, ambition and desire to develop and implement public and institutional policies in this area", enthused Myriam Maestroni, EDE's Chief Executive Officer.
"Thanks to its regional network and experience, La Poste is positioned as a preferred partner of private individuals and local authorities. La Poste is strengthening its commitment to the energy transition, which is one of the areas of strategic diversification for its Services-Mail-Parcels business unit. Combining Economie d’Energie's expertise with our network of 72,000 postmen will contribute to achieving the energy transition and public policy targets set in law," believes Philippe Dorge, Executive Vice-President responsible for the Services-Mail-Parcels business unit.
Source: Le Groupe La Poste