Environmental transition: strong regional and local authority support for global public performance contracts (known in France as MPGP)
Reading time: 5 min
Energy transition in buildings means sharing responsibility with providers through global public performance contracts. We look at some examples with VINCI Energies Building Solutions business units in Rueil Malmaison, west of Paris, and the Nord Department.
On 1 April, 2016, global public performance contracts (known in France as MPGP) were made available to project owners as a contractual instrument enabling them to link operation and maintenance with contracting, supply or service provision to meet quantitative performance targets. A contract of this type compels the parties to meet their commitments, with the results measured using performance indicators.
“Global performance contracts imply a partner relationship in which the classic customer-supplier dynamic is replaced by a constructive connection based on shared responsibility and therefore trust,” says Marc Lejeune, Global Public Contract Project Manager at VINCI Energies. “More and more regional and local authorities are seeing the value of these contracts in connection with their energy transition-related policies.”
Seven sites in Rueil Malmaison
As part of its multi-year building stock renovation, maintenance and improvement plan, the town of Rueil Malmaison (Hauts de Seine) opted for a global public performance contract covering seven of its most energy-intensive sites (six educational establishments and the municipal administration centre), with a combined surface area of 34,500 sq. metres.
“We approached the contract by mobilising VINCI Energies Building Solutions teams in a consortium of six entities. We applied our considerable combined design, construction and maintenance expertise to propose energy performance packages for each building,” explains Marc Lejeune.
The contract stipulates a reduction of at least 30% in overall energy consumption across the seven sites over the next ten years.
“More and more regional and local authorities are seeing the value of global public performance contracts in connection with energy transition”
To achieve this, the consortium chose to work on the full range of technical batches: external thermal insulation, renovation of some door and window frames, LED lighting controlled by building automation systems (BAS), thermostatic taps (also BAS-managed), solar panels, and connections to the local urban heat network. The contract is worth €16 million.
“We began in 2023 with the administration centre,” says Marc Lejeune. “Our operations must honour a commitment to service continuity in the buildings and will be phased over four years.” The two parties also committed to a bonus/penalty system. In the event of a penalty (for example excess thermal consumption at 24 °C), the operator – VINCI Facilities in this case – is responsible.
Four high schools in the Avesnois area
Similarly, in the Nord Department, a consortium comprising VINCI Construction, Santerne Fluides and Cegelec Valenciennes Tertiaire, VINCI Facilities, Nortec, Projex, Avant-Propos, and Symoe was awarded a global energy performance contract (MGPE) in connection with the energy renovation of four high schools in the Avesnois area: Joliot-Curie and Léo-Lagrange in Fourmies, Jean-Rostand in Sains du Nord, and Solrézis in Solre le Château.
“Responding as a consortium means all parties have to come together around the same table to design an optimal response in terms of targets – for which digital tools (Visio, BIM, etc.) come in extremely useful – and formulate the best trade-offs based on each other’s needs and constraints,” says Adrien Guyot, the head of the energy unit set up at Santerne Fluides two years ago. “But the role of VINCI Facilities as the operator is key. The consortium as a whole bears the responsibility for meeting targets, but the operator has the decisive role in meeting targets and maintaining performance in the long term. Ultimately, after the building is handed over, it’s the operator that carries the energy commitment through to its conclusion, so their active and committed participation is crucial right from the design phase.”
The contract sets out three primary targets: comfortable year-round temperature and humidity levels in the schools; guaranteed average energy performance across the four establishments (40% reduction on average, within a range of plus or minus 10% depending on the site); and airtight building shells (leakage rate below 1.2 m3/h/m2).
As in Rueil Malmaison, the consortium decided to implement a range of energy performance improvements: partly or completely replacing boilers; installing dual-flow ventilation with energy recovery in daytime-only areas and overnight accommodation; fitting thermostatic heads to all radiators; adding meters to all networks and outlets; installing a centralised BAS to facilitate maintenance and consumption monitoring; and refurbishing selected toilet blocks.
It also plans to replace existing light fittings with LEDs, fully insulate all buildings, and replace doors and windows.
05/21/2024
