Irish Green Building Council Urges Political Parties to Take Actions

The Irish Green Building Council (IGBC) has today launched its General Election Manifesto at an election hustings event in Dublin which was attended by candidates from Ireland’s main political parties. At the heart of its Manifesto, the IGBC is urging political parties to take three key actions to help to create better, greener homes and sustainable neighbourhoods. These are turning empty buildings into quality homes; building low-carbon homes in green, well-connected neighbourhoods with access to essential services; and supporting the decarbonisation of the construction industry.

While the IGBC believes that progress has been made in recent years towards bringing back empty properties into use and increasing the pace of domestic energy renovations, the Council says that much more needs to be done if we are to meet our climate targets. It is therefore calling for political parties to address these three key actions while prioritising their focus on the renewal and revitalisation of our villages, towns and city centres.

Pat Barry, CEO of the Irish Green Building Council, said: “To improve people’s quality of life, and contribute to better use of scarce resources, new homes must not only be highly energy efficient, but they must also be located in green, well-connected neighbourhoods that support low-carbon, active lifestyles.”

The IGBC’s#BuildingLifecampaign aims to achieve the mix of private sector action and public policy required to reduce the carbon footprint of Ireland’s built environment by 51% by 2030, in line with our national climate targets.

The Campaign’s Ambassador and Chair of the Irish Green Building Council, Ali Grehan, added: “Housing and the environmental crises are two of Ireland’s most critical and immediate challenges. Yet too often our towns’ centres are blighted with abandoned and under-occupied buildings. Bringing back these properties into use through high-quality renovations must be a national priority. It is not only the most cost-effective way to address building and transport-related emissions, but it also represents an obvious opportunity to address the housing crisis, while making our city, town and village centres safer, more active, and restoring their economic, cultural and aesthetic value.”

John Casey, #BuildingLife Campaign Ambassador and Director at CORA Consulting Engineers, explained:“While technical solutions exist, our sector needs regulatory assistance on low-carbon construction. Actions must be implemented to fully support a greater use of biobased materials such as the increased use of timber, and the implementation of circularity in construction.”

The Irish Green Building Council Manifesto sets out specific policies to tackle the multiple crises facing Ireland, from housing to cost of living, and nature and climate breakdown. These include:

• Aligning all public policy measures, such as building and planning regulations and financial incentives, with Ireland’s climate action targets, making sure they don’t work against each other.

• Setting up a Citizens’ Assembly on housing and climate action to build consensus around potentially contentious policies on how to meet the housing needs of a growing population while reducing carbon emissions in a fair and balanced way.

• Mandating the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to direct public bodies procuring or giving grant aid for new residential developments (including social and affordable homes) to make the award of a contract or funding conditional on the successful applicant demonstrating how they will address whole life carbon emissions, reduce transport emissions, future-proof their developments to adapt to a changing climate, and enhance biodiversity.

• Introducing carbon targets for different building types by 1 January 2028 (at the latest) in line with other EU Member States such as Denmark and France.

To read the IGBC General Election Manifesto, please visit www.igbc.ie.

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

Irene Rondini | Marketing & Communications | Irish Green Building Council | irene@igbc.ie | 089 452 9998

Notes to Editors

1. The Irish Green Building Council organised a general election hustings event today, focusing on sustainable neighbourhoods for all. The event was attended by Ivana Bacik, Labour Leader and Housing Spokesperson; Francis-Noel Duffy, Green Party Spokesperson on Housing; Cllr. James Geoghegan, Fine Gael General Election candidate for Dublin Bay South; Rory Hearne, Social Democrats General Election candidate for Dublin North-West, Paul Murphy, People Before Profit Spokesperson on the Environment, and Eoin Ó Broin, Sinn Fein Spokesperson on Housing.

2. The IGBC’s General Election Manifesto can be found here.

3. Construction and the built environment are directly responsible for 37% of Ireland’s emissions, the same as agriculture. This is made up of about 23% operational emissions associated with the energy we use to heat, cool, and light our buildings and a further 14% embodied carbon emissions from the production of construction materials, transport of materials, construction process, maintenance, repair and disposal of buildings and infrastructure. Source: https://www.igbc.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/WLC-UCD-IGBC_30.09.22_V4.0_MidRes.pdf.

4. The Transport sector represents the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland. These emissions are influenced by choices relating to settlement patterns and planning policy, with dispersed settlement patterns making the provision of public transport infrastructure and a shift to more active modes of travel challenging.

5. About the Irish Green Building Council (IGBC)
   The Irish Green Building Council (IGBC) is Ireland’s leading authority on green building best practices with a network of over 400 green building organisations spanning the entire built environment industry. The IGBC is affiliated with the World Green Building Council. This is a network of over 80 national Green Building Councils worldwide with a total membership of over 27,000 of the most progressive international organisations and businesses making it the largest organisation globally influencing the sustainable building market. https://www.igbc.ie/

6. About the Home Performance Index
   The Home Performance Index is Ireland’s first national certification system for quality and sustainable residential development. It was developed by the Irish Green Building Council after extensive consultation with the industry. The HPI certification is based on verifiable indicators that are divided into five categories: Environment, Economic, Health and Wellbeing, Quality Assurance and Sustainable Location. It provides people with the assurance that their homes have been designed and constructed with care to ensure low running costs, enhance occupant wellbeing and minimise environmental impact. 29,000 homes have registered for certification to date. https://homeperformanceindex.ie

7. About #BuildingLife 

The#BuildingLifecampaign aims to achieve the mix of private sector action and public policy required to reduce the carbon footprint of Ireland’s built environment by 51% by 2030, in line with our national climate targets. The campaign is fronted by our 24 #BuildingLife Ambassadors, who are all senior figures within the construction industry or leading political representatives.