(The following is an extract from our submission to Longford County Council as part of its submission to Dept. of Trade, Enterprise and Employment under the Gussing Energy Project initiative - July 2009)

House of Tomorrow

The aim of Sustainable Energy Ireland’s House of Tomorrow programme was to accelerate improvements in the quality of energy features in Irish housing. Established in 2001, the original programme had set energy performance targets that were 40% better than prevailing regulations and went on to inform the draft building regulations for 2008.  The emphasis of the programme was on researching, developing and demonstrating more sustainable energy practices with a focus on stimulating the widespread uptake of superior sustainable energy planning, design, specification and construction practices in both the new home building and home improvement markets. 

The original target for House of Tomorrow was to provide funding for up to 3,000 dwelling units with varying targets for energy performance improvements.  The original call specified 2,000 new build houses at 20% better efficiency than building regulations (1,000 houses each for Social and private developments), 500 refurbishments and 500 “innovative energy practice”.  Innovative practice encompassed new builds which were at least 40% better than the building regulations in terms of energy usage and CO₂ emissions.

In 2005, the programme was amended to primarily support the innovative energy practice sector. 

The programme closed for new applications in July 2007. To date, the House of Tomorrow programme has supported 128 projects with in excess of 5,300 dwellings.

In November 2006 Rathcline Sustainable Projects Group made application under this programme to carry out an Energy & CO2 Minimisation program on 12 existing buildings in the Lanesboro region.

Detailed energy usage surveys, energy audits and advisory reports were prepared and a work program estimated at over €210k with a projected a reduction in Space Heating and Domestic Water Heating of 168,951 kWh/yr or 47% and a reduction in CO2 by 87.6 Tonnes over 12 dwellings.

Funding was allocated in May 2007 at €5k per household (SEI Ref. HOT/3/2007/19272157) and work was completed in October 2008 and the following are the main findings and compared with national figures (Energy in the Residential Sector – Report 2008 - SEI):

When compared with the national housing size, type and social classification of the houses considered within this project, the 27% increase in energy load would be as expected for a rural setting as is the 3 fold use in Peat/Wood as a local fuel source and this is further reflected in the fuel costs;

These cost are compiled using the SEI Domestic Fuels Cost for April 2008 and the cost of Sod Peat has been compiled and based on the calorific fuel values for Standard Coal, however from previous studies we know that in real terms this cost is considerable less as large number of householders have access to turbary rights and through the use their own time and resources. However this source of fuel is coming under pressure from both declining resource and conservation measures.

The overall results from the project were as follows;

This programme completed the following Measures and Technologies:

Measures

• Attic Insulation in 10 dwellings
• Cavity Insulation in 10 dwellings
• Double Glazing upgrade in 7 dwellings
• Wood Heater systems in 3 dwellings
• Solar Water Heating in 7 dwellings
• Underfloor Heating in 2 dwellings
• Temperature Controls in 11 dwellings
• Project Management for 11 dwellings

Technologies

• Attic Insulation – Fibre Glass, Polyisocyanurate and Actis TRISO-SUPER 10 Foil Insulations (1,481M²).
• Cavity Wall Insulation – Expanded Polystyrene Bead (1,271M²).
• Double Glazing – uPVC and Wooden frame (141M²).
• Wood Heater – Wood and Wood Pellet fuelled.
• Solar Water Heating – Flat Plate (44M²) and Evacuated Tube (13m²).
• Underfloor – Wet (82M²) and Dry (156M²) system.
• Temperature Controls – TRV’s and Programmable Controllers.
• Project Management – HER Reports, Advisory Reports and Project Management.

Energy Usage

As can be seen from the House of Tomorrow project, the actual energy demand from the houses considered was above the national figures, however from the writers experience, I would project typical figures for this project in the mid region of the variance or about 15% above national figures as follows;

From these figures we can now project the total annual residential energy cost for the community = €1,897 x 861 = €1.63m

Based on the results from Energy in Ireland 1990 to 2007, typical energy demand in Ireland is as follows;

Based on the above we can now calculate the total community energy and I make the following assumptions;

• Transport costs in previous study were found to be slightly higher than national figures – say increase by 5%
• Lanesboro & Ballyleague currently have only 2 medium scale industries and could only be considered at 30% of national figures.
• Services are limited and will consider at 50% of national figures.
• Agricultural activity in this community is also limited – say 40% of the national figures

Based on the above assumptions we arrive at the following annual energy cost for the region;

Say  almost €6 million is leaving the DED's of Rathcline, Clontuskert and part of Newtowncashel East each year to meet energy demands.

Official Launch

Saturday 12th of July 2008 in St. Mary Hall, Lanesboro as part of the Lough Ree Environmental Summer School & Arts Festival by Minister Michael Finneran TD. Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government with special responsibility for Housing, Urban Renewal and Developing Areas.

Site Visit

    -A Change for Air-   Presentation at Official Launch.

       Minister Michael Finnerans TD Speech

Further Information contact

Ray Hogan     086 2608207 or  info@rspg.ie