Energy efficiency – The Great leap forward

After Charlie McCreevy giving a Bush style two-finger salute to Kyoto at the recent EU Finance Ministers meeting in Malmo (a resounding no to increased energy taxes on the rather spurious grounds of high transport costs at the periphery), one has to wonder about the effectiveness of the forthcoming changes to Part L of the Building Regulations.
The bouffant headed Mr Dempsey announced in the Dial as long ago as January 1999 that a review of Part L was under way and that it was due for completion at the end of that year and that the subsequent “deadline for its publication for public comment and finalisation is mid 2000”
As one might expect nothing at all happened by mid 2000. In fact not much happened until nearly the end of 2000 (17th Nov), when Dempsey issued a press release (http://www.environ.ie/press/sysgo.html) saying how delighted he was that something might be out by “Spring 2001”.

The timing problems are understandable, ie. Somebody has to find the time to read up on the proposed changes in the UK regs, précis it and give it to the minister. What is very curious though (even more curious then the infamous memo to Bobby Molloy about hollow core blocks) is Dempsey’s assertion that “it will not know be necessary to phase in the improvements in thermal/insulation standards in 2002 and 2005, as originally envisioned by my Department. Accordingly, it should be possible to make this great leap forward in energy conservation in a single step”. The release goes on to quote basic thermal performance requirements that are envisaged for 2003 (which may be subject to possible adjustment !) and which approximate to those that the UK expects to reach within the next 2 years. NB: The UK has opted for a rolling program and has given target figures for the next 5 years. It’s fairly obvious who the single step approach would benefit. Oddly enough no mention is made of windows, doors and rooflights in the Dempsey statement. Neither is there any mention of tackling the problem of the poor insulation standards in much of the existing housing stock.
Personally I will be particularly interested in the ministers proposals for the certification and inspection regime.

Whilst Nero fiddles the current building boom is delivering tens of thousands of new homes with insulation standards that have been described by the Energy Research Group at UCD as amongst the lowest in Europe and which are unlikely to be up-graded for decades. The existing housing stock results in Fuel Poverty levels, ie. the inability to heat ones home to a safe and comfortable standard, owing primarily to low income and energy-inefficient housing, that are amongst the highest in Europe.

A recent report by the ERG estimated that Ireland would overshoot its Kyoto quota by nearly 15%. The recent Sunday Times ‘Rich List 2001’ had a lot of builders in it.

Monty