A year ago, the Irish government announced a €70m fund for public and private sector projects. To date, very little of this money has been spent, yet a recent Irish Independent article states that up to €200m could be saved annually from the public sector’s electricity bill if older, energy-inefficient public buildings were retrofitted. Breaking it down, the HSE portion would account for half of the overall total - around €100m. A health sector plan is in development with an estimate of 2015 for completion.

Other high energy users include the country’s 400k street lights and Irish Water’s 1,000 sewage treatment plants. Government buildings, garda and fire stations would all benefit from retrofitting. A UN report has indicated the direct benefit of energy efficiency in addressing global warming and this type of project would reduce Ireland’s carbon output of 900 tonnes annually. In addition, thousands of jobs would be created in the retrofitting sector. With water charges currently dominating, hopefully this key issue will not fall off the agenda.

 

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