Green value (valeur verte)

“Green value” is a convenient expression, but a misleading one if taken literally. The Charte de l’expertise en évaluation immobilière (the French property valuation charter) says so plainly: green value does not exist as such at this time; on the other hand, environmental criteria may have a positive or negative effect on value in certain markets. There is therefore no “green” value alongside market value, but a market value which, depending on the market, reflects the energy performance of the property to a greater or lesser extent.

In practice the expression covers two phenomena: the premium that a high-performing property may enjoy (rating A or B on the DPE, the French energy performance certificate, or an environmental certification) and, more often in France, the discount that hits a poorly rated property, especially when a regulatory deadline hangs over it.

Where the rule comes from

Title III, § 1.17 of the Charte (6th edition, November 2025) lays down the principle, and Title IV, chapter 3, develops it with the positions of the international organisations. The EVS 2025 introduced EVS 6 on valuation and energy efficiency: where a legal deadline affects the right to use or let the property because of its energy rating, the expert most often proceeds by the residual method, starting from the value of the renovated property and deducting the cost of the works. In France, the Law of 22 August 2021 bans the letting of dwellings rated G from 2025, F from 2028 and E from 2034.

In a valuation report

I record the energy rating, the date of the certificate and, where one exists, the energy audit. I look for comparables with the same rating where the market offers enough of them; failing that, or where a deadline applies, I quantify the value after renovation and then deduct the cost of the works, from quotes or from the estimate in the audit. The report explains which approach is adopted and why, without applying any flat-rate percentage: the Charte points out that every discount must be justified.

Example

A 55 m² flat rated F, intended for letting, in a town where equivalent flats rated D sell at €3,200 per m². Renovated value: €176,000. Works needed to reach rating D, according to the audit: €22,000, to which I add €3,000 for contingencies and loss of rent during the works. Residual value: €151,000. A comparable rated F sold recently at €2,850 per m² would give €157,000: the €6,000 gap shows what that market had not yet priced in, and the report discusses it.

Not to be confused with

Prudent value answers a banking requirement and is not linked to the energy certificate, even though energy performance is becoming an explicit risk parameter. The DPE measures a conventional consumption, not actual consumption, as Title IV, § 1.6 of the Charte points out.