ROI homeowners will now be able to claim up to half of the cost of their home’s energy upgrade, under a new Deep Retrofit scheme launched at the SEAI Energy Show, however you will have to group with your neighbours to qualify.
€5 million has been ring fenced for homeowners who want to upgrade their homes to an ‘A’ rating on the Building Energy Rating (BER) scale.
The scheme is being rolled out on a pilot basis and will require a fabric first approach as well as introducing a low carbon heating system (non fossil fuel).
The grant will fund up to half the cost of upgrades for individual householders and will be administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).
Deep retrofit is a significant upgrade to bring a home as close as possible to Nearly Zero Energy Building standards, which is due to come into force in 2019 with a public consultation phase to start early in 2018.
The €5m scheme will be administered by SEAI and will make funds available on a rolling basis to community groups, to Local Authorities and to Energy Agencies.
“It is available to any group that can pull together groups of people who want to invest in a major energy efficiency improvement to their home,” noted the Department of Communications, Climate Action & Environment’s press release.
The programme is in line with government policy that aims to encourage a more collaborative approach to energy upgrades; district heating schemes for example are few and far between in Ireland but provide a much more efficient and less carbon intensive way of heating our homes.
The Tipperary Energy Agency’s Superhomes programme provides a similar Deep Retrofit incentive, funding up to 35 per cent of the energy upgrade and without the community group caveat (homes are upgraded individually).
Astrid Madsen
English