Scaling up innovative retrofitting for Ireland’s homes
The European Green Deal is seeking to achieve climate neutrality in Europe by 2050. Renovating the existing housing stock will support this aim, increasing energy efficiency, cutting carbon emissions and improving quality of life for inhabitants. Yet most building owners lack the necessary skills or time to retrofit homes, and renovations come with high implementation costs. Individuals seeking out information on retrofitting their homes can find it confusing and complex. To resolve these issues, the Tipperary Energy Agency in Ireland – in partnership with Electric Ireland – developed Superhomes, a deep retrofit service for residential buildings in Ireland. The concept retrofits homes to become highly efficient buildings using cost-effective technologies delivered through a one-stop shop service. The idea is to empower customers to transform their homes into climate-friendly environments, which are low-carbon, renewable-energy focused and more comfortable to live in. In the Superhomes2030 project, a consortium of partners worked together to dramatically upscale the Superhomes concept through the creation of four regional one-stop shops across Ireland. These services doubled the number of engaged contractors to 80 through the project, to deliver high-quality retrofits across the country and boost national capacity building. The team trained more than 50 SMEs and over 200 professionals in Superhomes standards. The project also offered training for homeowners, contractors, technical staff and surveyors, and developed finance solutions for home retrofits that do not rely on public funds. The intention is to retrofit 35 000 homes in Ireland by 2030. By the end of 2023, Superhomes2030 had scaled up from an initial rate of 100 homes per year to over 500. This figure is growing each year – on track to either meet or exceed the overall target.
One-stop shops for home retrofits
The one-stop shop service is available to homeowners who want to retrofit their homes, helping to guide them through all the new – and potentially confusing – technologies that could reduce their carbon footprint. It includes an initial consultation to assess retrofit potential, a home energy survey to examine the building and heating system and create a baseline assessment, assistance with a grant application and a subsequent retrofit. New installations for improving energy efficiency in the home can include heat pumps based on renewable energy, insulation, reduced air leaks which could lose heat and advanced ventilation systems. The project worked on a range of research and development activities, including optimising design systems, improving technical analyses and creating open-source energy performance data platforms to demonstrate values of retrofits.
Deep Retrofit Community of Practice
Superhomes2030 also facilitated the creation of a Deep Retrofit Community of Practice across Europe. Through this innovative community, best practices, standards, knowledge and technical solutions can be shared between a range of industry stakeholders, including experts, retrofit specialists and retrofit agencies. The project team also ran a series of three Community of Practice webinars to compare similar one-stop shops around Europe and to share knowledge. The first online conference focused on skills shortage and training in the construction sector; the second was aimed at homeowners planning to retrofit their homes; and the final webinar showcased three one-stop shops across Europe, discussing the approach taken by each, along with the services offered and the process.
Open-source energy data
Superhomes2030 successfully opened four one-stop shops across Ireland, supporting jobs in the construction sector. Market research carried out through the project showed that financing options are limited in Ireland compared to other countries, but are growing. The project also created open-source data platforms to share energy performance and to optimise technical analysis, design systems and retrofit solutions. These platforms were designed to demonstrate the value of bringing nearly zero-emission building retrofits to the market. Thanks to international partners the European Heat Pump Association and FEDARENE in Belgium, the project is now exploring expanding the Superhomes model outside of Ireland.
Keywords
Superhomes2030, retrofit, climate, neutrality, housing, heat pump, renovation, open-source, efficiency