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Cluster Housing Home Energy Saving Scheme Launched
In April, Mr Ryan announced the home energy saving scheme. This is now well under way in North Tipperary, Limerick, Clare and Dundalk, with more than 1,000 homes involved.
The first phase of the testing was to evaluate the response when people participated on an individual home basis. The second phase, which is now taking place, is to test the response of groups of homes (the "cluster" phase) open to all parts of the country, for which applications are now being invited.
"One of the most sensible ways to help deal with rising energy costs is to improve the energy efficiency of our homes," said the Minister. "That is exactly what this scheme is already doing and in fact, it has been estimated that householders can save up to €500 a year by bringing their houses up to modern energy efficiency standards. It is logical that when groups of houses come together the initial outlay may be lessened while the return remains just as good."
Through a residents' association or a property management company or simply by owning multiple dwellings, any group of homes can come together to form a cluster. Third parties, such as energy agencies or building contractors, can also gather a group of participants to form a cluster.
Funding for the cluster phase is limited and intended to support 500 homes. Sustainable Energy Ireland has specified that all remedial works must be completed by the end of November this year.
Applicants must secure agreement from all participating households in each cluster to pay a reduced fee of €100 for the initial home energy assessment that will recommend what actions should be taken. Following the assessment an advisory report will be prepared for each household identifying measures for which the grant can be used.
Further information, please contact the SEI.