Document Type

Article

Rights

Available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 4.0 International Licence

Disciplines

2. ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

Publication Details

Energy and Buildings

Abstract

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are issued for buildings constructed, sold or leased across the EU. Using a generalizable methodology this work exploits Ireland’s EPC national dwelling stock database to determine the thermal refurbishment status of Ireland’s housing stock. It is estimated in 2014 that; i) 58% of walls were insulated at a mean overall heat loss coefficient or U-value of 0.66 W/m 2 K, ii) 67% of roofs were insulated at a mean U-value 0.37 W/m 2 K, iii) 97% of windows were double-glazed, and iv) 53% of floors were insulated to a mean U-value of 0.59 W/m 2 K. The (i) extent of thermal refurbishments and (ii) high degree of energy-efficiency improvements in Ireland contribute significantly to household energy usage per square metre being 9% below the EU 27 average in 2010, and the average energy efficiency of Irish housing having improved by over 34% between 1995 and 2011 (2.5% per annum). The distinction between the thermal efficiency of pre-thermal building regulation and post-thermal building regulation dwellings, whilst still valid, is lessening. A strong association between dwelling age and energy efficiency often-made is diminishing as retrofits continue to be carried out. The long-held view that the majority of Irish dwellings are thermally sub-standard is no longer valid.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2019.109348

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