Energy performance and public private partnership

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the performance of public‐private partnership (PPP) and the ability of private consortia and public authorities to together develop solutions that reduce building energy consumptions.

The paper reviews the performance of PPP projects based on criteria such as respect for timely delivery and costs, innovation, service quality and life cycle costing; then a case study focusing on energy saving performance contract (ESPC) is expounded.

The research indicates that PPP performs well on issues such as respect of timetable and contracted prices but does not establish that PPP promotes innovation, quality of service delivery and life cycle costing. It also appears that energy issues are gradually integrated in contracts in progress under the influence of thermal regulations. Among PPP projects, ESPC focuses on energy savings measures. Their success mainly requires that public authorities have a good knowledge of the status, occupation level and energy consumptions of their buildings. Information disclosure in the contract also reduces uncertainty and creates trust among partners.

The research should raise the awareness of public authorities on imperatives to have a good knowledge of the status, occupation level and energy consumptions of their buildings.

Most PPPs have been evaluated at the design and construction stages. Evaluations of PPPs in operation are less frequent. Examining the first ESPC in operation in France is an original contribution that opens doors for further empirical investigations in this field.