My Department's Technical Guidance Documents set the benchmark for sustainable design in school buildings with a clear focus on energy efficiency. They are based on solid energy research projects. The Department's policy is supported by a strong research programme with forty eight research projects at various stages, including its joint SEAI partnership energy website project www.energyineducation.ie.
One of the newer research strands focuses on working to meet climate change responsibilities. My Department and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland are involved in an energy efficient retrofit pilot scheme for schools since 2017. The pilot programme will focus initially for three years on medium to deep retrofit measures to improve the energy efficiency of existing schools which present a variety of challenges including different building ages, archetypes, and retrofit requirements.
The energy efficiency upgrade measures undertaken in the pilot are considered medium to deep, and include fabric, electrical and mechanical upgrades. The longer-term outcome of the pilot will be to create an accurate and scalable model for energy efficient retrofits of schools across Ireland. In the National Development Plan (2018-2027) €2.5bn is identified for the refurbishment and construction of schools. Part of this is an intention to undertake “deep energy retrofit of schools built prior to 2008”. Therefore, this pilot scheme is now paving the way for, and informing, a much larger national schools energy retrofit programme based on a range of typical retrofit options, which will have been tried and tested during the pilot.
In 2017, ten schools received energy retrofits, followed by six schools in 2018. For 2019 a provisional list of schools is currently being progressed to design phase. Energy Conservation Measures delivered to date include fabric (roofs, walls, glazing and doors), heating (boilers, controls, Building Management systems), and electrical (LED lighting and solar PV).
Tariffs for micro-generated renewable energy in schools is under review by both the Departments to which the Deputy refers.
