SUSTAI NABI LIT Y
C onstruc tion we ll placed t o h e lp m e e t g r e e n h o u s e g a s e m is s io ns reduc tion targe ts MICHAEL SLEVIN, Director, KSN, writes about how the government’s plans to reduce Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030 will affect the construction sector and what measures can be taken to reduce emissions and improve the energy efficiency of our existing building stock.
W
Michael Slevin, Director, KSN.
62 irishconstructionnews May 2021
hen it comes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the energy usage of Ireland’s built environment, the primary users of energy and contributors to GHG emissions are the residential, commercial and public service sectors. These are significant final energy users, and are therefore a crucial focus for GHG emissions reductions in the government’s Climate Action Plan. Figure 1 shows the GHG emissions by sector in 2020, while Figure 2 shows the final energy usage by sector for 2019. When looking at the energy usage in the built environment, we also need to consider the energy/carbon required to construct
