Thermal renovation of schools: Why municipalities face gaps despite billion-euro pledges

Paris – 04.07.2026: The debate over the energy and thermal renovation of school buildings has sharpened following recent heat waves. Government circles say that almost €3 billion is available for 2026 — drawn from existing funding instruments and the Fonds vert. In many town halls, however, this sum is seen as insufficient and above all too fragmented to trigger effective measures on a wide scale.

Representatives of the Association des Maires de France report stalled projects and sluggish approval procedures. According to local associations, the volume of the Fonds vert has recently decreased, while application and documentation requirements have remained complex. In practice this creates funding gaps: municipalities must secure co‑financing, clarify responsibilities and at the same time cope with limited construction and planning resources. The risk: short-term aids such as fans and mobile cooling units relieve symptoms but do not replace insulation, shading or ventilation concepts.

At central level, specialist politicians and ministry departments point out that a large part of the funds comes from established programmes such as DETR, DSIL and the Fonds vert. These lines are available but are not targeted solely at comprehensive thermal full renovations. Critics counter that without bundled, multi-year budgets and clear priorities mainly partial renovations will be financed, which only limitedly reduce energy consumption and room temperatures.

In parallel, support schemes such as EduRénov and financing from the Banque des Territoires are running. They are intended to provide technical support to municipalities and co-finance projects. Initial figures point to several thousand funded schools, which, given roughly 45,000 primary schools, covers only a fraction. At the same time there are large differences between Départements: prefectures set priorities differently, and approval pathways and specialist planning capacities vary considerably.

In the background is a structural conflict of objectives: the Ministry of Education argues that the state is not owner of many buildings; municipalities and inter-municipal associations point to tight budgets and rising construction costs. Experts therefore advocate a combined strategy: clearly defined, long-term funding lines specifically for thermal renovations of schools; simplified application and procurement procedures with standard modules for common building types; binding timetables for priority sites; as well as accompanying measures such as solar shading, natural night-time ventilation and pedagogical adjustments for heat.

Without such bundling, renewed heat-related class cancellations and provisional solutions that are expensive but ineffective loom. Municipalities therefore demand multi-year predictability to pool tenders, secure market capacity and coordinate measures with other works — for example fire protection or accessibility. The decisive factor will be whether the central government, regions and municipalities reliably link funding streams and noticeably speed up procedures in the coming months.