IRENE RONDINI, Communications Lead at the Irish Green Building Council, highlights key IGBC initiatives focused on decarbonising the construction sector in 2025 and sets out how Irish construction companies can participate in these programmes.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has confirmed that 2024 is officially the warmest year on record, with the past decade holding the 10 hottest years ever documented. This alarming trend stresses, once more, the urgent need for bold climate action.
The construction and building sector accounts for 37% of Ireland’s emissions, making it a key area for change. However, addressing the environmental crisis goes beyond simply reducing carbon emissions. It involves a triple challenge: climate change, resource depletion, and biodiversity loss.
The construction industry can be at the forefront of tackling these challenges, but no one can do it alone. The Irish Green Building Council is already working with the industry to address these issues and develop the tools needed. This article highlights some of these initiatives and how the construction sector can participate in them in 2025.
Decarbonising the built environment
In 2022, the IGBC launched ‘Building a Zero Carbon Ireland’, a roadmap to decarbonise Ireland’s built environment. This outlines three key actions to reduce carbon emissions and reach our climate targets: Optimise the use of our existing building stock, build better, and transition to low-embodied-carbon materials and processes.
Unlocking the potential of vacant buildings
The embodied carbon emissions of a deep residential retrofit are typically about a quarter of those associated with a new build, making the reuse of existing buildings crucial for reducing carbon emissions. Additionally, revitalising vacant properties through high-quality renovations presents a unique opportunity to address the housing crisis while breathing new life into our cities, towns, and villages.
Despite significant increases in funding to tackle vacancies in recent years, vacancy rates remain high in Ireland, and Above the Shop spaces are often empty or under-used. To help the government unlock their potential, the IGBC is working on developing a comprehensive set of recommendations to address real (and perceived) technical, financial, and regulatory barriers.
This work is being completed under the umbrella of the Vacant to Viable Buildings Alliance and as part of the Construct Innovate funded ‘Vacant to Viable’ project.
Supporting energy renovation
In May 2024, the European Parliament and EU Council agreed on revisions to the EU’s primary legislation governing buildings, the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). The recast aims to support Europe in achieving a fully decarbonised building stock by 2050, contributing to the EU’s broader goal of climate neutrality within this timeframe.
The recast includes several actions to further support energy renovation, such as the introduction of Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) in non-residential buildings from 2030, as well as voluntary Renovation Passports in 2026.
In 2024, the IGBC organised a workshop in collaboration with the Department of Housing to support the transposition of Article 9.1 on MEPS in non-residential buildings into Irish law . In 2025, we will focus on the development of the next National Renovation Action Plan (Article 3) and Renovation Passports. Renovation Passports are masterplans for retrofit and include a record of works. The IGBC is developing an Irish methodology for renovation passports for commercial buildings as part of an SEAI-funded project.
Building Better: Making life cycle assessment accessible to all
For the first time, the EPBD will require the measurement and disclosure of a building’s life cycle Global Warming Potential (GWP) emissions from 2028 onward. Over the past year, the IGBC, with support from SEAI and in close collaboration with industry, has worked on the development and testing of a national methodology for calculating the life cycle GWP emissions of buildings.
Building on this, we are now developing training programmes and technical tools to support this transition. To celebrate World Green Building Week, the IGBC will publish an Industry Progress Report in September to evaluate the progress of Ireland’s construction and real estate sectors in their journey toward decarbonisation and identify any gaps.
Paving the way for resource efficiency in construction
Transitioning to a more circular economy is also critical in lowering our emissions. Minimising the need for producing new materials through the reuse of resources, tackles one of the root causes of emissions: waste. The 2024 Circularity Gap Report Ireland estimates that embracing a circular economy could reduce Ireland’s carbon footprint by 32%. It’s also key in tackling resource depletion and habitat destruction.
To advance this effort, the IGBC will launch a ‘Circularity Roadmap for the Built Environment’ in May 2025 at its annual flagship event, ‘Build Green Now’ . This new roadmap is designed to complement our existing one on decarbonisation, as previously mentioned.
A key instrument to support the transition to circularity is the availability of data on the characteristics of materials in products, which ensures their value for recovery and reuse. That’s why the IGBC will be piloting Material Passports (MP). These are digital documents that track and manage the flow of materials throughout the lifecycle of a building or product. This approach will support material transparency and lifecycle thinking.
Circularity will also become a mandatory requirement of our sustainability standard for new homes, the Home Performance Index (HPI), aligning with EU Taxonomy standards for sustainable finance and encouraging the adoption of circular principles across the sector.
Making greener and biodiverse buildings the new norm
The biodiversity crisis is just as urgent as the climate crisis. According to WWF, global wildlife populations have declined by more than 70% in the past 50 years. To tackle this issue, the IGBC is committed to making the enhancement and protection of biodiversity the new norm in Ireland’s residential developments.
With funding from the Housing Agency, IGBC and Trinity College Dublin have launched a new BIO-NEIGHBOUR initiative to develop recommendations for scaling up biodiversity enhancement in new housing projects. This work, informed by extensive stakeholder engagement with IGBC members, will help to understand how to create greener and more biodiverse communities.
In May, the IGBC will launch a catalogue of Irish case studies to showcase the industry’s efforts in enhancing and protecting biodiversity across various building typologies and infrastructure projects. This resource will serve as a reference for practitioners looking to implement green infrastructures and biodiversity features in their projects
Seizing the opportunity
The challenges we face in 2025 are immense, but they also present a unique opportunity to reshape Ireland’s built environment for the better. Through innovation, collaboration, and bold action, the Irish Green Building Council is committed to supporting the industry in creating a sustainable, circular, and biodiverse future. However, we can’t be alone in this journey. In 2025, we need the input, expertise, and dedication of all to drive meaningful change. Get in touch with us today and be part of the solution.
For more information, visit www.igbc.ie