Ireland falling short in sustainable investment to achieve 2030 carbon reduction targets
Climate Change Advisory Council Chair Marie Donnelly tells Robbie Cousins that Irish construction faces critical sustainability challenges but is moving in the right direction. However, the government must urgently tackle decarbonisation of our fossil fuel culture to avoid over €8bn in EU fines in 2030.
The Climate Change Advisory Council is the independent body tasked with assessing and advising the government on how Ireland can achieve the transition to a climate-resilient, biodiversity-rich, environmentally sustainable and climate-neutral economy. Its chairperson, Marie Donnelly, is a former director of the European Commission with Responsibility for Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy and Innovation.
Marie Donnelly
As part of her remit, within construction, Marie Donnelly has been calling for increased timber usage and greater utilisation of modern methods of construction (MMC). She says the government should be doing more to encourage and facilitate the retrofitting of existing homes and that it must make decarbonising the systems that heat our homes an even higher priority.
Marie Donnelly also warns that if Ireland does not achieve its carbon emissions reduction targets by 2030, we could face an EU fine of €8bn, adding that it makes sense to spend this money now on mitigation initiatives.
She explains: “Ireland could face EU fines of €8.2bn after 2030 if we miss our climate targets.”
In 2023, the Department of Public Expenditure estimated compliance costs between €3bn and €8.2bn, based on the EPA projections and future ETS prices.
“We urgently need to phase out fossil fuels and expand retrofitting incentives. We should increase grants for heat pumps to make them a more affordable alternative to fossil fuel boilers. Fossil fuels must be phased out so people can make sustainable choices to heat and power their homes.”
Operational carbon
Marie Donnelly points out that greater energy efficiency is the key to reducing operational carbon emissions.
“Many energy efficiency goals are being addressed through our building regulations. Our legislation for new buildings is good. However, we have a considerable challenge in reducing emissions when it comes to existing building stock, particularly housing.
“We have about 2.2 million houses in the country. The heating systems in most are fossil fuel based, either gas or oil. In order to reach our emissions-reduction targets, on top of insulating homes, we need to decarbonise domestic heating systems.”
She says once again, we have the technology to do this, and this presents an opportunity for Ireland to lead the EU by making the technology more affordable. Otherwise, people will continue to install fossil fuel systems.
“The technology of heat pumps is established. However, there is a capital investment gap that needs to be bridged. We have been urging the government to reduce the capital costs of these technologies. For illustration purposes, say a heat pump costs €14,000 to install and the home-owner gets a grant of €6,500, the gap is still €7,500. Suppose the gap was €4,000, with the grant being increased to €10,000. Then, you’re almost competitive with fossil fuel boilers in terms of capital costs, but the running cost of the heat pump system would be much lower than the boiler.
“Many people don’t have the capital for the upfront investment. We argue that the government providing capital investment now secures the change cost-effectively without causing huge cost increases in the economy. By front-loading the expenditure, the government is also reducing our emissions and mitigating those possible fines coming down the line in 2030.”
Transport and infrastructure
Looking at transport and infrastructure, Marie Donnelly asks if we want to build out roads or build spaces for people.
“Our philosophy on transport is on road space reallocation. Space should be reallocated for people rather than being there for cars to be parked 12 hours a day. Paths should have sufficient space for people to walk, push prams or wheelchairs, etc. We also need safe spaces for active travel, such as cycling and more space for public transport, avoiding congestion and allowing public transport to deliver the service it is supposed to provide.
“The CCAC is not calling for the elimination of cars. The issue with cars is why are we using cars for short distances of 2kms or less. We should be able to walk, cycle or take public transport for this distance. We support compact development concepts such as the 15-minute city.”
Planning reform
Marie Donnelly believes that when it comes to planning, Ireland needs to carry out a full assessment of the available land and zone it appropriately for the purpose for which it is best suited. Development plans that are put in place should not change. Those investing in crucial infrastructure projects should be confident that their proposals align with development plans without worrying about the development plan changing.
“Planning is an extremely sensitive point, but it shouldn’t be so. We’ve looked at procedures and mechanisms in other countries where planning and development plans are clearer. They’re more prescriptive, but they’re sufficiently clear that if a developer looks at the plan, they know the answer to what will be acceptable in a particular area and don’t have to take a flyer on getting through the planning system. Clarity in planning would be very helpful, with areas zoned for specific uses or not zoned.
“In France, where planning is spatially based and map-illustrative, look at a map and the map will tell you what the zoning is for a locality, and that’s it. In Ireland, our development plans are frequently indicative and can be varied. Long-range development plans are a good idea. In one recent instance, An Bord Pleanala refused planning for four wind farms. The proposers of the wind farms started their work when the local development plan allowed for windfarms. Halfway through the planning process, the development plan was changed to prohibit wind farms. So, Bord Pleanala could only say no. This is a disincentive to managed development and roll out.”
Repurposing building stock
The CCAC is firmly in favour of repurposing existing and derelict buildings and wants more brownfield sites in urban areas opened up and made more attractive to develop.
Marie Donnelly explains: “We should not be throwing away embodied carbon in buildings. We’ve seen research that suggests, to date, we have not made a dent in vacant properties. We continue to press the government on this, and rather than have new development move outside towns to greenfield spaces, we must make brownfield sites more attractive in terms of construction and development.”
Social housing renovation
According to the 2022 Census, there were 153,192 residences categorised as local authority homes. Marie Donnelly says that the people who live in these properties are the audience that is most at risk in terms of the cost of heating and inflationary impacts.
“It is evident to us that the government should prioritise these properties for retrofitting. It’s their own property. However, it is not addressing the issue of retrofitting these homes fast enough, and the level of retrofit being carried out does not go far enough.
“We believe the National Retrofit Plan should be more comprehensive in scope and ambition. It shouldn’t just be about roof and wall insulation and upgrading. We should also be installing solar panels and heat pumps and looking at how each home will function into the future.
“Solar panels should be everywhere because they provide an opportunity for people to reduce their electricity costs while at the same time going back to my point about decarbonising and reducing fossil fuel reliance.”
Retrofitting for older people
Marie Donnelly adds that people on the verge of retirement or recently retired should be a targeted cohort to ensure their homes are adequately retrofitted. “People in their 60s at pre-retirement and just post-retirement stage in most instances might own their house and may be in it for 30 years or more at this stage. They probably haven’t done a lot in terms of improving the fabric of the building over that period. The question is, what would make them want to retrofit now to have a warm house for their retirement.” “Many people in this situation may be worried about the costs and wonder if they would get a return from the investment. There are also questions about the impact of retrofitting. Do they have to move out for long? If so, where are they going to move? This cohort has greater difficulty making and implementing the decision to retrofit. The government should specifically support this group, perhaps through information clinics. They are prime property owners and should be encouraged to retrofit.”
Positive energy districts
Contributing to the ambitious targets of the European Strategic Energy Technology Plan, the programme’ Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) and Neighbourhoods for Sustainable Urban Development’ supports the planning, deployment and replication of 100 Positive Energy Neighbourhoods by 2025.
While the CCAC absolutely favours retrofitting, it is also concerned about decarbonising fossil fuel-dependent heating networks.
“Heating decarbonisation is a more urgent action. Retrofitting will take time. But the decarbonisation of the heating system can be done through district heating and that’s why we’re pushing the district heating option.”
Fourth Generation District Heating Networks are designed to work at lower temperatures and enable a more cost-effective transition away from burning fossil fuels toward heat supplied from local renewable and secondary heat sources, such as from waste heat or heat transfer from groundwater. The PED initiative mentioned above could play an essential role in decarbonising Ireland’s heating network.
“An SEAI Heat Study says that over 50% of heating requirements can be met with surplus heat from district heating systems in Ireland. The new generation of district heating systems are very efficient. Look at our new urban spaces and the layout of residential communities, often there’ll be a substantial green space perimetered by houses. This configuration lends itself to district heating. You only have to dig up the road to put pipes down to feed all the houses.
“The attraction of this is the heating is decarbonised, even though the houses may not yet be retrofitted. Whether retrofitted or not, they will not be wasting energy because they will be connected to a renewable district heating system, which, incidentally, should work with their existing radiator configuration.
“Granted, there’s an infrastructure investment that needs to be made. But this approach will bring us closer to achieving our decarbonisation objectives faster than we are currently going.”
Urban retrofitting
Marie Donnelly suggests a more suitable home configuration for fourth-generation district heating systems and communal retrofit programmes.
“The residential terraces of our town and city centres are ideal for the government to deliver retrofit programmes at scale and supply heating from district heating schemes.
“It has been demonstrated in other countries. I often cite the example of the Energiesprong (Energy Leap) programme, which originated in the Netherlands and has since been implemented in parts of the United Kingdom, the United States, France, and Canada. This programme involves snapping a shell of panels to the outside of a building to increase its thermal efficiency. The cladding is made to measure off-site, embedded with insulation and service ducts, and solar panels installed on roofs. The installation can be completed in a day, and the terraces are ideally located to be switched over to district heating systems.”
In conclusion
Marie Donnelly concludes by saying that in construction, the most effective tools we have are legislation, standards and building regulations. These are updated regularly and are ambitious and forward-looking. She adds we also have a construction sector that is innovative and ambitious.
“As we move to the ZEB building standard in the coming years, solar panels will be the norm on all buildings. It won’t be the exception anymore. So why are we waiting until 2028 to do this? Why don’t we do this now? Why postpone until tomorrow, something we know we should do today? It will also be a lot cheaper to install today.
“The CCAC is here to advise and make recommendations on best practice. The recommendations we make are practical interventions that make economic as well as environmental sense. The government needs to be moving quicker, not just in construction, but in other sectors too, if it is serious about achieving its 2030 carbon emission reduction targets,” Marie Donnelly concludes.