Study: 75% of housing stock needs A2 upgrade by 2050

The finding was announced as part of fuel poverty mitigation charity Energy Action Limited’s Episcope study on the energy performance and retrofit trends of the housing stock of the Northside of Dublin City looking to 2020 and 2050 climate protection targets.

The report found that residential energy demand in the area is on course to reduce by 12% by 2020 – and therefore fall substantially short of the 20% target under the Energy Efficiency Directive – and that C02 emissions are on course to reduce by 48% by 2050, indicating that Ireland is currently set to fall far short of the pledged 80% reduction target.

This Irish study is one of many carried out within Episcope in 16 EU member states, where pilot actions have tracked the rates of retrofit in a variety of local, regional and national housing stocks to determine if current trends will achieve the 80% CO2 reduction target by 2050, and if not, what increase in retrofit activity will be required.

In order to meet the 80% CO2 emissions reduction target by 2050, the Episcope study’s model predicts that an additional 75% of the stock will need to undergo a deep retrofit by 2050 and that the grid will have to be decarbonised by 60% compared to current levels by 2050. A deep retrofit assumes that an existing dwelling will achieve an A2 BER score by adopting ambitious fabric upgrades and switching to renewable technologies such as heat pumps for space and water heating.

While the practicalities of achieving deep retrofits on such a large scale are debatable, the analysis shows the scale of the task ahead and that business as usual will not suffice if CO2 reduction targets are to be achieved.

The current situation is starkly shown in the Episcope BER mapping tool developed by Energy Action with the assistance of SEAI as part of the Irish Episcope pilot action. The tool is available at http://energyaction-static.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/index. html.

The full Irish Pilot Action Report including recommendations for a comprehensive Irish House Condition Survey is available on the EPISCOPE website www.episcope.eu