To mark the publication of the 4th edition of the Saint-Gobain – Occurrence Sustainable Construction Barometer, we spoke to Fabienne Robert, Director of the Sustainable Construction Observatory and International External Relations at Saint-Gobain. She looks back at the key findings of this new edition, including value perception, public expectations and concrete deployment conditions.
Question 1: The Observatoire de la Construction Durable, launched four years ago by Saint-Gobain, aims to inform, listen to and unite all players in the construction sector. Each year, it presents the findings of an international Barometer. In concrete terms, what do these answers mean for Saint-Gobain and all your stakeholders, and how do you use them?
The construction sector is already well documented on performance and technical subjects, but less so on the notion of perception. This is what the Barometer provides: a reading of how sustainable construction is understood, prioritized and implemented in different contexts.
It sheds light on the real conditions under which the many solutions that exist in the field of sustainable construction may or may not be deployed, highlighting dynamics that are sometimes barely visible: discrepancies between categories of players, marked differences between countries, or persistent gaps between widely shared intentions and their concrete translation.
For the Observatory, this enables us to anchor our discussions in a finer, more concrete reality, made up of decision-making frameworks, perceived constraints and actual priorities. And it is this tension between ambition and implementation that makes dialogue between players both more demanding and more effective.
“For the first time, we have introduced a question on value by defining it as a multidimensional notion”
Fabienne Robert
Director, Sustainable Construction Observatory, and International External Relations, Saint-Gobain
Question 2: This year, you are introducing a central question on the perceived value of sustainable construction. The study shows contrasting perceptions according to profile and region. In your opinion, what evidence or arguments would be most effective today to convince people?
For the first time, we included a question on value, defining it as a multidimensional notion: economic, environmental, social and heritage. The results are revealing: while 47% of stakeholders consider that sustainable construction creates more value than traditional construction, this perception remains heterogeneous according to profile and region.
What this shows is that value is difficult to read, to apprehend in all its dimensions, and therefore to integrate fully into trade-offs.
The most effective arguments will be those that make the value of sustainable construction both tangible and legible. This requires proven elements: performance over time, operating costs, impact on health and comfort, resilience in the face of climatic hazards, use value and property value.
But the challenge is not so much to multiply the evidence as to articulate it. As long as these dimensions are treated separately, it is difficult for them to have any real influence on decisions, particularly in calls for tender or investment logic, where criteria often remain fragmented. The issue is therefore not simply to demonstrate value, but to ensure that it is effectively recognized in the mechanisms that structure choices.
Question 3: The barometer shows that public demand is growing, with increasing emphasis on “lived” benefits (health, well-being, comfort…). In your opinion, how can this desirability be transformed into a concrete lever for acceleration?
The public’s view of sustainable construction is evolving beyond the major environmental objectives. It is increasingly associated with benefits such as health and well-being. This movement is important because it makes the subject more concrete, closer to the point of use, and undoubtedly also more mobilizing: 63% of citizens today consider the development of more sustainable construction a priority.
However, desirability does not automatically lead to acceleration. For it to become a lever, it must be able to influence decisions. Citizens can play a prescriptive role, in the broadest sense of the term: through the expectations they express with regard to their homes, their comfort and well-being, particularly with regard to public decision-makers, and more generally through the signal they send to the entire value chain as to what is acceptable, desirable or, on the contrary, insufficient. Designers and developers will have to integrate these expectations to make their projects desirable and acceptable.
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