Optimising energy consumption

Since 2021, Heppner has relied on the Deepki tool to monitor its buildings’ energy consumption in real time and increase the effectiveness of its decarbonisation actions. Led since 2022 by 50 energy advocates in the field, Heppner France’s energy sobriety plan is based on the application and enrichment of best practices, combined with strategic investments aimed at improving the buildings’ energy efficiency.

The Dispositif Éco Energie Tertiaire (DEET, Tertiary Eco Energy Scheme), or “tertiary decree”, requires tertiary buildings to progressively reduce their energy consumption, with targets of -40% by 2030, -50% by 2040 and -60% by 2050. It applies to buildings over 1,000 m² and requires monitoring via the ADEME’s OPERAT platform. (Scope: France)

These efforts are yielding significant results; by the end of 2024, they have achieved:

> 41% reduction in energy consumption for French sites, compared with the reference years 2017-2021 (depending on the site).
> 78% of the m² are already compliant with the relative or absolute energy performance targets set for 2030 (tertiary decree). Of course, these efforts must continue in order to maintain compliance

• Average consumption of sites with over 1,000 m² in France: 36.7 kWh/m²/year

In addition to implementation of the energy efficiency plan, the key levers enabling these significant results are:

• Replacing propane-powered forklifts with electric forklifts has led to a 59% reduction in propane consumption between 2023 and 2024, although this energy source still accounts for 68% of the French sites’ CO₂ emissions.
• Investment in connected, sustainable LED solutions, with a total of €2.5 million invested in recent years.
• Renovations or optimisations made, depending on each site’s specific features: replacing gas boilers in Lyon or optimising use of the heating system in Strasbourg in 2024, for example.

These best practices, tried and tested for several years at Heppner France, are being rolled out progressively in other countries. The re-lamping performed by Le Studio LED has been operational in Spain since 2024 and has led to an 84% reduction in electricity consumption in these facilities. This system will be deployed in Germany in 2025.

Outside France, average site consumption is 35.7 kWh/m²/year, with a significant proportion of natural gas used to heat warehouses in Germany and the Netherlands. Although this average consumption is in line with buildings in France, emissions linked to energy consumption in buildings are much higher than in France (1 kWh of electricity in Germany emits 8 times more carbon than in France, for example).