The Irish Green Building Council is delighted to invite you to a workshop to explore how fuel poverty could be better addressed in Ireland through energy renovation.
Recent statistics show a significant increase in the number of households at risk of fuel poverty in Ireland, with almost a quarter of the population in 2022. While energy poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon and can arise from a combination of factors including low income, poor condition of buildings and rising energy prices, energy renovation of low-income housing offer a more enduring solution to fuel poverty than energy tariff subsidies or fuel payments because they address the root cause of fuel poverty rather than the symptoms.
The objective of this workshop is to gain a better understanding of what is currently working/not working or could be improved, and to start developing solutions.
The workshop is by invitation only and limited to 40 stakeholders from governments and local authorities, energy agencies, construction companies, research and academia, NGOs and community organisations. This is to ensure the broadest engagement on the development of the practical recommendations and to maximise the potential for creative input.
If you want to join the workshop, please RSVP by Friday 6th October or contact Marion at [email protected] for further information.
About the Project
In recent years, the Irish Government has introduced ambitious targets and measures to upgrade the levels of energy efficiency in the building stock. However, almost a quarter of the population remains at risk of fuel poverty, and the depth and rate of energy renovation remains low. Papers have highlighted that while the existing supports for people living in fuel poverty in Ireland mainly seek to target households living in relative income poverty, this assistance does not necessarily reach all households who experience energy poverty. One additional challenge is that the onus currently rests on individual homeowners to apply to these schemes, assuming that all households have the resources to do so.
An evaluation of the national retrofit programmes targeting households at risk of fuel poverty needs to happen in real time to allow rapid adjustments and support more effective scale up of energy efficiency upgrades in Ireland. This review is also needed to ensure Ireland’s National Retrofit programme supports a just transition, while delivering real carbon savings.
The objective of the project is to gain a better understanding of the current challenges and international best practices, prior to testing a few ideas and developing a comprehensive set of recommendations to address fuel poverty through energy renovation in Ireland.
This project is funded by Friends of the Earth Ireland. The final set of recommendations will be released in February 2024.
