2 Strategy The Group’s environment www.saint-gobain.com SAINT-GOBAIN UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT 2021 46 The determined commitment of public authorities, in the context of the “Green Deal”, is evident in France for example with the component of the recovery plan dedicated to improving the energy-efficiency of public buildings and housing, which, combined with the budget extensions for the MaPrimeRenov scheme, amounts to over €9 billion (over the period 2021-2023); in Spain, with the “España Puede” program, valued at nearly €7 billion (over the period 2021-2023), or in Italy with the “EcoBonus” program estimated at nearly €14 billion (over the period 2021-2025). This is a historic moment: it is estimated that 70% of residential spaces in Europe must be renovated if we want to achieve the carbon neutrality objective. However, this objective assumes that the annual rate of renovation of buildings will be doubled within ten years, throughout the European Union. The European Commission’s strategy is to renovate 35 million energy-inefficient buildings and create up to 160,000 additional “green” jobs (1) in an environmental, social and efficiency-related public governance project. The priorities of the “RenovationWave” plan are to limit energy poverty, renovate public buildings, and decarbonize heating and air conditioning (2). It should be noted that the energy renovation support programs announced by governments do not relate exclusively to housing, but also sometimes to non-residential buildings, as in France for example. Standards Act in the United Kingdom and also, in the United States, a series of local regulations such as the law on GHG emissions from buildings adopted in New York or the new energy code enacted by the State of California. Market growth is also driven by adapting buildings to changes of use, and in particular the explosion of work from home (see above, section 1.1.5), which has consequences in terms of renovation and restructuring needs for both individual housing and office buildings. The increase in the number of real estate transactions in Western Europe (1.2 million in France (3)) is another factor driving market growth, as changes in ownership are often an opportunity to carry out work. The same logic is at play with the upward trend in the ownership rate in certain countries (France, the United Kingdom or the Netherlands for example) and with renewed consumer interest in second homes, under the influence of populations choosing to leave major cities; the latter trend has the additional effect of increasing the geographical dispersion of renovation needs, which has an impact on demand in terms of distribution channels for products and services. The sector’s growth outlook is also supported by the constant strengthening of construction and renovation standards in developed economies, with increasingly demanding standards such as the Climate Act 2020 in France, the European Directive on the energy performance of buildings, the Minimum Energy Efficiency The necessary adaptation of housing to an aging population is also one of the factors that make renovation a market with strong and sustainable structural growth over several decades. The proportion of the population aged 65 and over is expected to double between 2019 and 2050 in many regions of the world: North Africa and Western Asia, Central and South Asia, East and South East Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. By 2050, one in four people living in Europe and North America could be 65 or older. Growth projections for the global population aged 65 and over in absolute terms (in millions of people), 2020-2100 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 2100 2095 2090 2085 2080 2075 2070 2065 2060 2055 2050 2045 2040 2035 2030 2025 2020 (1) European Commission, Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs – https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_20_1835. (2) European Commission, Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs – https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/fs_20_1844. (3) France: cumulative over 12 rolling months in November 2021.
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