General Background

The government of Ireland has had an up-scale in support for home retrofitting because they are in favor of creating more efficient homes and combating rising carbon emissions. Retrofitting is the term used to describe the retrospectively gathering of more advanced technology to change the original construction of homes (Rise of retrofit). Retrofitting of homes is generally done to make the homes more environmentally friendly or to make them safer from risk of disaster (Triveno & Holm-en, 2016). Ireland’s goal to increase home retrofitting in the country is a part of the European Union’s Green New Deal (Hoare, 2020). The European Parliament voted for a climate law in October of 2020 that committed the European Union to reducing carbon emissions by 60 percent by 2030 (BusinessPost, 2020). However, the issue of needing to retrofit homes is relatively specific to Ireland and is one that should be focused on. Irish homes have been noted as having more issues with insulation than the homes of Northern European neighboring countries (BusinessPost, 2020).

In a report by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), the objectives of the National Home Retrofit Scheme 2020 are stated. The report noted that the project will, “support the Climate Action Plan and Programme For Government targets of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by retrofitting 500,000 homes by 2030.” It also claims the Climate Action Plan would entail installing 400,000 heat pumps in already existing buildings throughout the next 10 years (Government of Ireland, 2020). Overall, the SEAI aims to change and make improvements to Ireland through energy efficient methods using “sustainable energy structures, technologies, and practices” (Government of Ireland, 2020). In addition to making homes more sustainable and energy efficient, retrofitting is supposed to lead to lower energy bills and more heat within homes. This means it will also help those who are in “energy poverty,” a term for those who are unable to pay their energy bills. This is significant because close to 50 million people in the EU were late in paying their bills or were just unable to pay them at all in the year 2019 (BusinessPost, 2020).

https://www.housing.eolasmagazine.ie/rise-of-retrofit/

Retrofitting

The call for an increase in retrofitting came as a result of studies done on the damages of greenhouse gas emissions. SEAI has been successful in seeing a reduction in energy related emissions since Ireland’s Climate Action Plan was put in place, as the rate of reduction was 3.9% in 2019. One of the major components to this decrease was the elimination of using coal for energy. The next step is retrofitting homes because approximately one-quarter of all of Ireland’s energy is used in homes (SEAI). Like stated in the introduction, there are many objectives in the National Home Retrofit Scheme. The objectives include: 1) upgrade homes and making sure they meet the goals of the Climate Action Plan; 2) establish the One-Stop-Shop model in Ireland for the Retro Task Force; 3) upgrade the housing stock so that the meet the most productive levels of energy efficiency and renewable energy; 4) establish a building fabric that can be energy efficient, decarbonise heat, improve ventilation, and connect with smart technologies; 5) encourage retrofitting among private homes and rental properties; 6) attempt to make the supplier market for delivery on government home energy retrofit targets; 7) encourage housing associations to promote energy efficiency (Government of Ireland, 2020). The Scheme plans to reach these objectives by using resources from the National Recovery Fund for funding retrofit projects, as well as by amending the Energy Efficiency Obligation Scheme to increase the amount of retrofits (Rise of retrofit).

Further Information

The government of Ireland proposed the concept of one stop shops as being crucial when it comes to marketing the idea of retrofits to homeowners. In this situation the one stop shops would combine “demand generation, home assessments, grant application, contractor engagement, project management, quality assurance and finance provision” (Government of Ireland, 2020). The SEAI stated that the one stop shops will allow for more efficient retrofitting programs and would bring more benefits to homeowners and the suppliers.

The retrofitting of homes is said to even be able to boost the economy following the impact of Covid-19. One reason for this is the high number of jobs that the retrofitting will require and provide for the communities, according to the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications. The Minister also claims that this economic stimulus will begin after €222 million in capital funding is provided for retrofitting projects. This is also beneficial because it will function better than the current process of stop-start grant approval processes (O'Sullivan, 2020).

Works cited

Government of Ireland. (n.d.). National Home Retrofit Scheme 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2021, from https://www.seai.ie/grants/national-home-retrofit/National-Home-Retrofit-Scheme-Guidelines.pdf

Hoare, P. (2020, December 04). Green new deal Is 'extraordinary' opportunity for Ireland. Retrieved March 20, 2021, from https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40149071.html

O'Sullivan, K. (2020, October 16). Retrofitting homes will assist economic recovery across the country, says minister. Retrieved March 20, 2021, from https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/retrofitting-homes-will-assist-economic-recovery-across-the-country-says-minister-1.4383239

SEAI. (n.d.). Ireland's housing RETROFIT IMPERATIVE. Retrieved March 20, 2021, from https://www.housing.eolasmagazine.ie/irelands-housing-retrofit-imperative/

Triveno, L., & Holm-en, N. (2016, August). Retrofitting: A housing policy that saves lives. Retrieved March 20, 2021, from https://blogs.worldbank.org/sustainablecities/retrofitting-housing-policy-saves-lives

BusinessPost. (2020, October 14). Comment: Ireland Must retrofit homes - and do so at considerable scale. Retrieved March 20, 2021, from https://www.businesspost.ie/climate-environment/comment-ireland-must-retrofit-homes-and-do-so-at-considerable-scale-46ff28b0

Rise of retrofit. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2021, from https://www.housing.eolasmagazine.ie/rise-of-retrofit/