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Building Regulations

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 June 2020

Tuesday, 30 June 2020

Questions (890, 891)

Cian O'Callaghan

Question:

890. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the percentage of overall new builds in 2019 and 2020 that have a heat pump; if he has considered updating the building regulations to make fossil fuel free energy systems a requirement for each new building to avoid future retrofit costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13391/20]

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Cian O'Callaghan

Question:

891. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the percentage of social housing unit builds in 2019 and 2020 that have a heat pump; if he has considered updating the building regulations for social housing units to make fossil fuel free energy systems a requirement for new social housing units to avoid future retrofit costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13392/20]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 890 and 891 together.

The Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) requirement applies to all new dwellings – including social housing -   which commenced construction from November 2019 subject to transition arrangements.

An NZEB dwelling is one that has a very high energy performance, as determined in accordance with Annex I of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive Recast (EPBD Recast) 2010/31/EU of 19th May 2010. The nearly zero or very low amount of energy required should be covered to a very significant extent by energy from renewable sources, including energy from renewable sources produced on-site or nearby.

My Department has progressively updated Part L of the Building Regulations, relating to the Conservation of Fuel and Energy in Dwellings, over the last decade in order to improve the energy and carbon dioxide emissions performance of all new dwellings to achieve these “NZEB” performance levels – which are equivalent to an A2 Building Energy Rating (BER) for a typical dwelling.

The performance requirements in building regulations are set at the cost optimal level which ensure that the best energy performance is obtained for the lowest lifecycle cost taking account of capital cost and operating costs. The cost optimal calculations are reviewed every 5 years.

A range of solutions can be used to achieve these performance requirements. The advanced performance requirements in the current regulations combined with a mandatory renewables requirement, is creating a rapid transition to low carbon heating systems in all new dwellings.  New social housing is subject to these same requirements.

Builders and homeowners have a choice in deciding which energy system best suits their needs. The regulations encourage the use of renewable technologies and the move away from traditional fossil fuels.  This strategy is working based on CSO statistics– the installation of oil boilers has dropped from 36% to 4% in new dwellings.  Electrical heating systems which are primarily heat pumps has increased to 44% in new dwellings in recent years and continue to increase their market share every quarter. There are no statistics available on the percentage of new social housing specifically that have a heat pump however it is expected that it would follow the national trend for all new dwellings.

It is estimated that the cumulative improvements to regulations mean that a dwelling built to the 2011 Part L regulations requires 90% less energy than the equivalent dwelling built in 1978 to deliver the same standards of heat, hot water and light.  This shows the very significant progress that has already been made in the standards for new buildings.

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