THE AVERAGE Dublin home is falling far short of the desired energy efficiency rating, a renewable energy summit in Croke Park was told yesterday.
Director of sustainable energy agency Codema, Dr Gerry Wardell, said an estimated 160,000 homes in the capital have a Building Energy Rating (BER) of E1.
Energy ratings are graded on a sliding scale: A1 is awarded to the the most energy efficient homes, while G is given to the worst.
The poor ratings are being blamed on the fact that many of Dublin’s houses were built before 1980, with many lacking wall or roof insulation.
Speaking at the National Renewable Energy Summit at Croke Park, Dr Wardell welcomed the new Home Energy Saving scheme, which provides grants for insulating homes.
“By carrying out even the most basic of home energy improvements, homeowners can improve their BER and potentially save money,” he said.
The €50 million Energy Saving scheme is open to houses built before 2006. Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan said householders stand to save up to €700 a year, and said applications would be processed in under three days.
Announcing the opening of the scheme yesterday, Mr Ryan said there had been an “unprecedented level of interest” from the public in the scheme, with Sustainable Energy Ireland logging 94,000 calls and website visits once it was announced that funding had been secured.
He said more qualified contractors were needed, and called for those involved in the sector to register with SEI.
“The level of public interest is such that contractors can be assured of work for themselves and for new employees through this scheme,” he said.
“Construction workers will benefit from the thousands of jobs this scheme will create. It’s good news for our pockets, for the economy and for the environment.”
Labour spokeswoman on energy Liz McManus urged Mr Ryan to ensure funding for the scheme was secured in the upcoming Budget.
“The benefits of this scheme are not only the savings in energy costs and the resulting emission reductions, but it is vital to ensure that construction workers are kept in work,” she said.
