In 2021 a new holistic approach was applied to the Energy Efficiency Retrofit Programme (EERP), designed around the Programme for Government's commitment led by the Department for the Environment, Climate and Communications that calls for the 'retrofit' of 500,000 homes to a B2/Cost Optimal Equivalent (BER) standard by 2030, of which, approximately 36,500 are expected to be local authority owned homes, with grant funding provided by my Department for those local authority housing retrofits.
This new programme sets a BER performance requirement of “B2” or cost optimal level. The upscaling of the works included in the programme sees a substantial overall increase in funding being made available for insulation, windows and doors and heating upgrades, specifically the installation of a heat pump and associated works. The installation of gas/oil boilers are no longer supported under the EERP funded by my Department.
Heat pumps are extremely efficient and very economical to run offering lower energy costs as well as reduced carbon emissions. The National Heat Study, published in February 2022, found that in terms of reducing the carbon footprint of domestic heating, heat pumps are the optimal decarbonisation path for domestic heating systems, with district heating also identified as a competitive option that can be widely deployed. The Government has established a Heat and Built Environment Delivery Taskforce and will publish a new National Policy Statement on Heat to guide the Government’s overall response to the National Heat Study across all sectors.
The 2023 EERP budget provides an increase in funding support from €85 million allocated in 2022 to €87 million in 2023 which will allow approximately 2,400 local authority owned social homes to be upgraded to a B2 or cost optimal equivalent (BER).
In addition to the funding provided by my Department for energy efficiency upgrades, local authorities can and do in many cases carry out upgrades to homes within their housing stock using their own resources, to that end, the measures and nature of works to be implemented are a matter for each individual local authority.
