Homeowners carrying out major renovations or extensions face having to fully upgrade the property's energy efficiency – ramping up their costs by tens of thousands of euro in some cases – under new regulations which came into effect this month.
The rules, part of the Energy Performance Regulations 2019, cover the design and building of new houses, but also the upgrade of existing homes where works being carried out involve a quarter or more of the size of the dwelling.
So, for a typical 140 square metre three-bedroom semi-detached house, which would have a surface area – that’s the area including floor, walls and roof – of 260 square metres, - any significant work involving more than 65 sq m of the surface area will now force owners to improve their energy efficiency throughout.
But what types of work will need to be carried out to invoke the rules, who will police it, how much more will it add to renovation costs, what financial assistance is available to help shoulder the burden and how long will it take for a homeowner to make their money back in electricity and heating bill savings?
So, what is the 25 per cent rule?
If you are carrying out renovations – including extensions – covering more than 25 per cent of the surface area of your property, you will be bound under the new regulations to ensure the entire house or apartment meets a B2 energy rating. Most houses in Ireland are not that energy efficient, with almost eight in 10 having a BER energy rating of C2 or worse.
I’m thinking of a kitchen extension, maybe some renovations. Would I be affected?
Not necessarily. Up to 24,000 homes are renovated every year in Ireland, working off the basis of EU percentage estimates and Central Statistic Office housing stock figures. But experts believe the majority of these would not breach the 25 per cent rule.
Smaller houses will likely be hit more than bigger houses, but variations in the age, type and state of the dwelling will all come into play, says Val O’Brien, a chartered building surveyor, who has a practice in central Dublin. “Obviously each house is unique and different. An old small artisan house, for example, would be more likely to go over 25 per cent and will take a lot more work to bring it up to standard.
“For an average three or four-bedroom house, it would likely have to be a Dermot Bannon-style job, where you are changing the house completely, or, say a two-room extension. It is unlikely that the average kitchen extension will be impacted.”
And if I decided to go all out with a Dermot Bannon-style makeover?
Well, you'd need to calculate the current energy rating of your home. A professional would then need to work out what you need to do to improve it to at least a B2 rating. There are various ways of doing this, including through insulation, ventilation, heating and control systems.
The four exterior elements to consider are the roof, floor, walls and windows.
More insulation in the roof, for example, may mean you need less in the floors – a consideration if you have a concrete floor which would be costly to tear out to put in underfloor insulation. Triple glazing windows might be less costly than measures such as dry-lining the inside of walls, or external insulation – both of which are eye-wateringly expensive.
Contrary to popular belief, Tom Halpin of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) says there is “no compulsion” to remove open fires in a dwelling to improve the energy rating to a B2. But he notes such a move will improve energy efficiency.
Other elements to consider are systems and controls for heating and ventilation within the home. In major urban areas, homes are typically gas-fired central heated while in the country, they are more likely to have oil-fired heating. More and more, you will have to consider renewable energy sources, such as solar heating and air to water heat pumps. Controls can also help limit energy use so you are only heating rooms that you use and when you use them.
This is all starting to sound a little costly…
Costs will vary wildly between different types of dwellings, according to size, age and condition, so any pointers on costs come with an explicit health warning.
But if you take a typical 140 sq m or 150 sq m three or four-bedroom semi-detached house, there are some ballpark figures. You could expect to pay between €3,000 to €4,000 for roof insulation. Insulating under a suspended timber floor might set you back up to €6,000. Upgrading windows is going to be anything from €10,000 to €15,000.
Then there are the bigger ticket items. Insulating walls in a property at least 20 to 25 years old will come with a hefty bill of around €20,000 while heating and control systems could add another €15,000 to €20,000.
“These are serious costs,” says O’Brien. “There might be some costs that would be absorbed in the original building works anyway but if you were spending €70,000 to €80,000 for an extension and renovations over 25 per cent of the size of the dwelling, I think your costs will go up by between €20,000 to €25,000 minimum, under the new regulation.”
That is costly….
“Yes, but it is for the best,” says O’Brien. “It is for the long-term benefit of the country and the planet. But you just need to make sure your budget is in order to do it. It will pay you back over time too.”
Some of the measures will pay back quicker than others. Insulating the roof and installing heating controls should be paying for itself in savings relatively quickly, says O'Brien, while the costs of insulating walls could take 30 years to recoup. "I would suggest to any prudent person who is thinking of an upgrade anyway to insulate the attic and upgrade the windows; you'll get a payback within a short time. Dry-lining walls and installing air to water heat pumps is a harder sell," he adds.
And what if I don’t have the budget for these measures?
Some people might be deterred from works because of the regulations. But, as O’Brien points out, regulations have a tendency of going one way, and the 25 per cent rule may reduce to 15 per cent, 10 per cent and so on over time until everybody has to upgrade their energy efficiency regardless.
In the meantime, he adds: “As an Irish nation, I think we are great at finding loopholes. So we will probably find that if we do a really good job with insulation in attic and windows, we might not need to spend so much on other measures.”
Speaking of loopholes, does anyone actually come out to make sure you are sticking to the regulations?
Not as such. It remains self-regulatory within the industry. But if you are taking advice from a professional – an architect, engineer or surveyor – they will have to sign off to confirm that the works adhere to the rules. Trying to sell your house down the line without the right certificates in place could cause difficulties.
Also, if you are borrowing from banks for renovations, as most people probably would be, the lenders will want to see compliance with all building regulations.
And I suppose those professionals will be charging me more for signing off on it too?
Surveyors or architects usually charge a percentage fee – say between 8 and 10 per cent – for their work on such jobs. They’ll be getting a de facto increase in fee because of the increased costs, but they shouldn’t be charging any extra fees as such for issuing completion certificates. They should be doing that regardless.
That’s something, I suppose.. any other good news on the costs?
Well, yes. There are grants that could help you cut them significantly, administered by the SEAI, whose Tom Halpin says they could pay for almost a third of the overall costs of specific energy efficiency measures.
These include grants for insulating attics and walls (including dry-lining, cavity wall and external wall insulation), for heating systems, solar panels, heat pumps as well as grants for heating controls. Attic insulation, for example, can qualify for a €400 grant, internal dry lining wall insulation up to €2,400, external wall insulation up to €6,000, with €700 of offer towards heating controls, up to €3,500 for heat pumps as well as €1,200 solar water heating grants.
“Fixed grants contribute roughly 30 per cent to the cost of the works in upgrading an average three to four-bed semi,” says Halpin. “The variability is massive but if a person was likely to spend around €20,000 on energy efficiency works, they could qualify for around €6,000 in grants to support that.”
Mr Halpin also flagged the free energy upgrades available for homeowners on certain welfare payments. Eligible welfare payments for this Better Energy Warmer Homes Scheme include fuel allowance, jobseekers allowance (if in receipt for more than six months and you have a child under the age of seven), working family payment, one parent family payment, domiciliary care allowance and carers allowance.
For applications that meet the criteria, the scheme will provide attic insulation, cavity wall insulation, external wall insulation, internal wall insulation, ventilation and other secondary measures, such as lagging jackets, draught proofing and energy efficient lighting. In certain cases, heating upgrades and/or window replacements may also be offered.
More than 135,000 homes have already benefited from the “companion scheme” to the home grants. As a first step, applicants will have to fill out an application form, which can be found at https://www.seai.ie/data-and-insights/forms/Warmer_Homes_Application_form_2018.pdf
