A ground-breaking digital support solution with project management assistance is in the process of being released onto the market. Created by three partners, two of whom are former PhD students at the Avignon IT Laboratory (LIA), this demonstrates once again the excellent standard of this internationally renowned research centre.
PROGE is a young Avignon-based company supported by Vaucluse Provence Attractivité, which will enable professionals to offer their services to joint ownership properties, assisting them with the complex process of energy-efficient retrofitting.
A product born from a meeting of two worlds
Project management assistance and artificial intelligence.
Between now and 2050, buildings and dwellings will be carbon neutral. That is, in any case, the objective of the government’s plan for energy upgrades to combat climate change and energy insecurity. It is in response to this need that the three founders of PROGE – Pierre Gotab, Laurent Masson and Stanislas Oger – have designed their product, PROGE COPRO. Given this context, the product clearly has a future and promises substantial growth for the start-up, which already has four employees and plans to create around twenty more jobs over the next three years.
The operational aspect of retrofitting a building involves multiple technical, financial, legal and tax variables, which project management assistants (PMAs) often find difficult to bring together given the ever-growing amount of regulation in the area.
A word from the Operational Director
There was a need for resources and a tailor-made tool. A simple spreadsheet would not suffice! And above all, it does not allow for centralisation and effective sharing of data. We also embarked on a training programme to enhance the skillset of the stakeholders within the sector.
Laurent MASSON
Operational Director
A collaborative platform
The solution consists of a collaborative platform that integrates various different business systems and data.
This management tool therefore supports all stakeholders at all stages of the project.
Catering to the energy-efficient retrofit market, this solution is bound to have a positive impact in terms of indirectly generating local jobs. “The PMAs, architects, project managers and tradespeople working on a project are local businesses, given the need to be on-site”, explains Pierre Gotab.
Pierre Gotab, technical Director:
« The added value lies in how easy it is to use and the enormous amount of time it saves. The tool’s financing engine is able to simulate various different scenarios for energy-efficient retrofitting and calls up all the financial aid options that are available to the co-owner »
VPA support
PROGE is an Avignon-based company that benefits from the ongoing support of Vaucluse Provence Attractivité, in particular to connect it with funding and to provide access to its network. Latest developments to date include meetings planned with DREAL (Regional Department for the Environment, Development and Housing), PACA (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur), central ANAH (French national agency for housing improvement) services and the Parisian Climate Agency.
“It’s wonderful news for our project, as our objective is to take up the challenge of pursuing a mass market strategy! ” notes Masson.