Retrofitting is ‘huge’ opportunity to transform homes, says SEAI

Upgrading home insulation is a central part of the Government’s Climate Action Plan.Irish homes are responsible for one quarter of overall energy use and 10% of greenhouse gas emissions.The plan is to reduce those emissions from six million tonnes in 2017 to less than four million tonnes by 2030 and to do so by retrofitting 500,000 homes. Declan Meally, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), says more people have been working from home and are seeing the possibilities of what better insulation can do for their comfort and warmth. He also points to communities coming together to apply for group projects. Some 500 communities have done this and more than ¤300m has been invested through the SEAI communities programme. One example is at Saint James Avenue in the Liberties in Dublin. At a Co-operative Housing Ireland complex, contractors are replacing the gas central heating boilers in all 46 apartments with heat pumps. Doors, windows and attic insulation will also be upgraded. Ciaran Carmody of Kingdom Installation is project manager of the works and says working on this type of cluster brings down costs and allows things to be done faster. The residents do not have to move out and work is being carried out in a way that keeps people Covid-19 safe. Eoin Carroll, Policy and Communications Director with Co-operative Housing Ireland, says it is paying 40% of the cost. An SEAI grant covers half of that and 10% comes through other funding.He says it is a good investment as it future-proofs maintenance costs as a survey of members last December showed heating and fuel poverty is a real issue. Mr Carroll says the SEAI programme is attractive as it is a one-stop shop. Co-operative Housing Ireland has to deal only with Kingdom Installation which project manages everything.

www.rte.ie/news/environment/2021/0422/1211346home-retrofit/

neW nsAi stAndArd on HeAt pumps in Homes

The National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) has developed and published a new National Standard Recommendation for the design and installation of Heat Pumps in homes. This new Standard Recommendation is one of a suite of measures developed by NSAI in direct response to actions set out in the Climate Action Plan 2019, the framework that sets out how Ireland will achieve its ambitious decarbonisation targets. Implementing this new Standard Recommendation will support the installation of 500,000 heat pumps in homes that are already suitable for the technology by 2030. These targets are set out in the Programme for Government. NSAI CEO Geraldine Larkin said: “I am very pleased we have published this new National Standard Recommendation for the design and installation of heat pumps in homes. NSAI is playing its part to drive down carbon emissions by supporting actions on the supply chain for renewables, retrofitting homes and climate adaptation. Damien English, Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail said: “I am delighted to support the NSAI in the launch of its new standard on heat pumps for homes in Ireland. NSAI is playing its part with this new standard which will help public and private homes make the change to cleaner and more sustainable heating systems, and with a knockon effect of new job opportunities for those businesses involved in retrofitting works.” The Standard Recommendation (S.R. 50-4:2021) concentrates on the types of heat pump that are installed in homes to provide heating and hot water and provides guidelines for the design, installation, commissioning, and maintenance of heat pump systems. In 2018 the average dwelling emitted 5.2 tonnes of energyrelated CO2. 66% of this was from direct fuel use in the home. The sector must reduce its CO2 eq. emissions significantly to meet 2030 emissions reduction targets.