It’s going to be all black The Breton capital has entered ten buildings in the French energy savings championship, the winners of which are unveiled on Tuesday
The unlit St. George’s Palace and the lit St. George’s Palace. The city of Rennes has chosen to turn everything off, the time to install LEDs. — C. Allain/20 Minutes
- The city of Rennes has committed ten buildings to the French energy savings championship, posting some impressive results.
- The town hall and the opera, whose nocturnal lighting has been completely shut down, have seen their consumption drop by 20 to 25%.
- Many “small gestures” made by the agents have also reduced power consumption.
We are not going to say that this decision was taken in general indifference. But let’s be honest. In the midst of the series of measures undertaken by the city of Rennes to reduce its energy consumption and avoid a bill of 470 million dollars, the extinction of the facades of certain bâ ments seems to go unnoticed. “We haven’t had any feedback in that regard anyway. While on other equipment” Séverine Tersinet has heard a lot about the lowering of heating in schools or the lowering of water temperatures in her swimming pools. Much less the extinction of the facades of the Town Hall, the opera house or the Saint-Georges palace, the Saint-Melaine church or the Martenot halls. The head of the Safety Maintenance department energy of the city of Rennes had however blown this idea from the month of June when we saw the costs of energy soar. But refutes any idea of plunging the Breton capital into darkness every evening. “We have only identified buildings that didn’t have LEDs,” she explains.
Depuis la rentrée, la ville de #Rennes a éteint l’éclairage nocturne des façades de plusieurs bâtiments publics: hôtel de ville, opéra, palais Saint-Georges, église Saint-Melaine et halles Martenot pour économiser l’énergie (et de l’argent). L’aviez-vous remarqué ?
— Camille Allain (@CamiAllain) December 13, 2022
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To accentuate the challenge of the teams, the municipality Rennes has chosen to take part in the Cube* competition, the French energy savings championship organized by by the French Institute for the energy performance of buildings (Ifpeb). Ten buildings in Rennes took part. While waiting for the winners, which will be revealed this Tuesday, December 13 at Paris, some buildings can legitimately hope to win a distinction. The Town Hall is one of them. Here, all the measures taken by the municipality has reduced consumption by 25.8% in just a few months! The exterior lights going out isn’t the only explanation. this dazzling progress. “We mobilized all agents around the issue of monitoring computers, printers, light. Every little bit counts.
By turning off their screen during the lunch break, by limiting the lighting in the event of small crowds or by disconnecting the fridge from the break room during the holidays, the 130 agents flying in the majestic town hall have caused consumption to plummet. Without disrupting their daily lives. On the other side of the square, the sumptuous opera also had to resign oneself to no longer light its rotunda, while turning off the air handling units (but not the VMC) in the evenings and on weekends. Result: almost 20% savings.
Will the buildings regain their lighting?
Among the ten buildings items identified by the municipality, not all of them had the same yield. But on average, the reduction in consumption is estimated at 7%. Sufficiently convincing to be maintained over time. The question that immediately arises is whether our monuments will ever be lit again? “They can when we put LEDs in them.” With LEDs, facades will only be more beautiful.
* Competition for efficient building uses