Lionel Gougelot (in Lille), edited by Solène Leroux 2:03 p.m., April 01, 2022

In Lille, "energy correspondents" are voluntary municipal employees who are responsible for monitoring the heating of buildings in their workplace and combating energy waste.

A system which for six years has saved 30,000 euros per year for the municipal budget.

To limit heating bills, the city of Lille has set up a network of "energy correspondents" in around a hundred municipal buildings out of the 600 in the city.

These are volunteer municipal employees who are responsible for monitoring the heating of the buildings in their workplace (nursery, swimming pool, social centres, sports halls, etc.) and fighting against energy waste.

A system which for six years has saved 30,000 euros per year for the municipal budget.

A drop in the bucket compared to the city's overall budget for heating public buildings, but there are no small savings here.

Our correspondent Lionel Gougelot met one of them in the Wazemmes district of Lille.

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"The norm is 19 degrees"

Jean-François Soubranne's first verification is done in the basement of the building where he works.

Regularly, the municipal employee inspects the meters.

"I take gas meter readings so that consumption can be monitored", he specifies, in order to limit the heating bill.

The rest of the tour takes place in the offices of his colleagues at the housing information center, where he checks the thermostats of the radiators.

"The standard for heating municipal buildings is 19 degrees," he explains.

A constant obsession: not to heat the premises unnecessarily.

"That's one of my concerns, but also those of my other colleagues, it's obviously not to overheat unoccupied premises!"

180,000 euros saved over six years

This network of "energy correspondents" in the city has saved 180,000 euros over the past six years on a heating bill of ten million per year.

Marginal, perhaps, but useful all the same according to Audrey Linkenhed.

"There are no small savings! It must be recognized that today we are not even sure of being able to speak of lower bills", assures the first assistant in charge of housing.

"We are already trying to avoid the rise which, these days, is very important."

Because when it comes to heating, the cheapest energy is the one we don't consume.