In an attempt to curb the effects of climate change, the Irish Government, along with most of the world’s nations, has committed to a wide range of decarbonisation targets in the coming decades. One of the major elements of Ireland’s decarbonisation plan is to improve the energy performance of our building stock.
The heating and powering of buildings represent a significant proportion of our national emissions. The World Economic Forum estimates that the operation of buildings represents approximately 28% of all emissions globally. Logically, energy upgrades to our homes, businesses, public buildings, and institutions would go a long way towards meeting our decarbonisation commitments.
In June 2020, the Government released Ireland’s Long Term Renovation Strategy which stated that to meet Ireland’s national and international emissions targets, our building stock needs to be highly efficient and largely decarbonised by 2050. This will be achieved through a multipronged approach. Firstly, all new buildings must meet Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) standards. Secondly, a large proportion of our building stock will undergo significant energy upgrades. This approach acknowledges that it is not feasible for every building to be highly energy efficient, but rather that the average of all our building stock needs to be improved. Through these measures, the average emissions per building will be greatly reduced.
The Public Sector has been charged with leading by example and has set the lofty target of a 50% reduction in emissions associated with Public Sector buildings by 2030, relative to their 2019 levels. In the same period, it is intended that 33% of private commercial premises achieve a cost-optimal BER rating of B3 or higher.
While there have been good intentions and ambitions in this area, there is a lot left to do. We are rapidly approaching the halfway point in this decade and through a combination of Pathfinder Projects, SEAI grants, and private investment some good inroads have been made. However, there are approximately 15,000 Public Sector Buildings and 109,000 Private Commercial premises in the country. Only a small percentage of these buildings have been upgraded to the required levels in the last five years.
Ireland must rapidly increase the number of existing buildings undergoing energy retrofits or we risk missing our national and international emission reduction targets.
One of the greatest roadblocks to achieving these targets is the construction sector’s ability to supply a suitably skilled workforce to meet the increasing demand for this work. Skills shortages have already been flagged across a number of areas, most notably in plumbing and carpentry, but also in engineering and quantity surveying.
As we approach our 2030 deadline, the increase in demand for energy retrofits is likely to outpace the increased supply of skilled workers, making it more difficult to complete energy upgrades in a cost-effective manner. As such, it would be prudent to consider moving on your energy retrofit projects sooner rather than later.
If you have any queries relating to energy retrofits, contact a member of our project management team.