Extensive energy upgrades have been completed on almost 10,000 Dublin council houses following a 10-year retrofitting programme undertaken by Dublin City Council.
The local authority began retrofitting its stock of 12,000 houses in 2013 and to the end of last year had completed work on 9,186 homes, which it said had saved tenants more than €73 million in heating bills.
The programme once completed is expected to cost more than €120 million, with houses costing an average of €32,000 to retrofit. But the council said the scheme will result in a reduction in maintenance costs, a cut in CO2 emissions, and ongoing savings for tenants of upwards of €800 a year.
Cavity walls
The first phase of the programme, from 2013-2018, concentrated on just over 8,000 houses largely dating from the 1970s-1990s. These homes had been built with cavity walls that could be filled with insulation. This work, which also involved the insulation of attics, water tanks and pipes, roof and wall ventilation, draught-proofing and cylinder lagging jackets, cost in the region of €16 million, or less than €2,000 per home, and brought most houses to a C2 Building Energy Rating (BER).
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Phase two which began in 2018 and is ongoing, is focused on the council’s older housing stock, generally dating from the 1930s-1960s, which were built with solid or hollow block walls, and require more expensive, external insulation. These homes also needed more extensive upgrade works, with new windows and doors required in some to replace old single glazing, in addition to the attic and pipe insulation, draught-proofing and ventilation work. Where possible heat pumps have also been installed, resulting in an average BER of B2.
This has led to a substantial increase in costs. From 2018 to the end of 2021 the council upgraded 928 homes at a cost of approximately €18 million or just over €19,000 per house. However, most of this work was done in 2018 and 2019, when retrofitting was completed on 360 and 454 homes respectively. Very few houses were retrofitted during the Covid-19 pandemic, with just 33 upgrades completed in 2020 and 81 in 2021.
Mounting costs
Last year marked a considerable recovery in the programme, with 202 homes ungraded. However, there was also a considerable hike in costs, due to construction inflation, both in materials and contractor rates. The 2022 retrofitting schemes cost €6.5 million to complete, or more than €32,000 per house.
Just under 2,500 more houses require upgrades, and while the work has already been contracted for some of these homes, the council is seeking tenders for the majority. Its current programme targets upgrades to 200 homes a year. However, the council is hoping to secure additional Government funding to accelerate the scheme to complete all houses ahead of 2030.
“The significant energy efficiency improvements that are being undertaken across the council’s housing stock will contribute towards reducing CO2 emissions, improving the quality of housing for city council tenants and importantly, enabling them to minimise their heating bills by making their homes more energy efficient,” said the council’s head of housing, Coilín O’Reilly.
