date 16th August 2019
Subject: Urgent need to provide certainty on the future of home energy renovation in Ireland
Dear Taoiseach,
Following SEAI’s unexpected announcement of the discontinuation of its deep retrofit pilot programme this week, the Irish Green Building Council is asking the government to reiterate its full commitment to home energy renovation and the all of Government Climate action plan.
The Irish Green Building Council (IGBC) is Ireland’s leading authority on green building best practices with a network of over 140 green building organisations spanning the entire built environment industry. Our membership is fully inclusive. It is made up of most of the professional construction institutes, contractors, architects, engineers, facility managers, construction product manufacturers, investors and property owners. Since our collaboration with the Department of Communications, Climate Action and the Environment to co-design an ambitious national renovation strategy in 2017, the IGBC has constantly highlighted the need to provide all players with certainty on the long-term direction.
The recent publication of the Government’s Climate Action Plan calling for significant increase in retrofit activities up to 2030 was highly welcomed. It gave industry the level of certainty that is needed to invest in renovation. But, the unexpected discontinuation of the SEAI’s Deep Retrofit programme is highly worrying. Beyond the individual homeowners’ stories, it damages trust of homeowners in the process and jeopardises the renovation industry across the country. Many of our members had invested time and resources around the deep energy renovation programme.
Whether it was a pilot programme or not, the perception now is that the government is no longer supporting deep energy renovation.Consistent support for renovation is critical to generate confidence and create the right conditions for securing investment. Current confusion and loss of momentum could set back the whole climate action plan. There is no time for ambiguity. We are hence asking the government to continue the deep retrofit programme for another 18 months as anticipated and to reiterate its full commitment to renovate our buildings and to implementing the Climate Action Plan.
We look forward to discussing this further with you.
Yours faithfully
Pat Barry
CEO Irish Green Building Council
Letter copied to Minister Richard Bruton T.D., Minister Pascal O’Donohoe T.D.