SEAI's National Deep Retrofit Conference 2017

  • Tom Halpin

SEAI will be hosting its inaugural Deep Retrofit Conference on June 21st in the Aviva Stadium, Dublin.

21st June, 2017, Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Up to a million homes built in the last century perform very poorly on the building energy rating (BER) scale. This results in significantly higher energy bills for homeowners, not to mention the effects of a poorly insulated home on the health and wellbeing of people living in the building. The deep retrofitting of these homes is one of our greatest energy efficiency challenges but it can also be viewed as a major economic and employment opportunity.

Deep retrofit challenges

Challenges include:

  • the significant learning curve
  • overcoming scepticism
  • the scale and capacity of the contractor supply chain and
  • the shortage of suitable financing solutions

SEAI is now exploring the best ways to help homeowners overcome these barriers and unlock the hidden potential in their homes. To date, SEAI have engaged in pilot studies testing a range of personal financing approaches and technical solutions. The 2017 budget provided additional funding to develop these pilots further and reflect the scale of the challenge we face.

SEAI's National Deep Retrofit Conference

SEAI will be hosting its inaugural Deep Retrofit Conference on June 21st in the Aviva Stadium. The conference aims to provide a platform for sharing experiences, best practice and analysis. It will serve as a marker post each year as SEAI test and embed the methods that will bring Ireland's building stock to the highest levels of energy efficiency.

Who should attend

This conference will bring together the full gamut of stakeholders and supply chain actors under one roof, to start the journey 'Towards Zero'. This will include: policy-makers; state bodies; researchers; local deliverers / project co-ordinators; property owners and landlords; technology providers; finance and business professionals; and building contractors.

Conference programme

The programme will feature national and international perspectives, establishing a framework for action across all stakeholders. Conference themes will include:

  • The vision for deep retrofit
  • National and international policy
  • Behavioural insights
  • Building market capacity
  • Supply chain quality
  • Leveraging the opportunity

Speaker line-up

Speakers already confirmed for the event include:

  • Jim Gannon - CEO, SEAI
  • Victoria Burrows - Project Manager, World Green Building Council
  • Catrin Maby - Associate Consultant, Rickaby Thompson
  • Jim Scheer - Programme Manager, SEAI
  • Jan Steiger - Passivhaus Institute
  • Andrée Dargan - County Architect, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council
  • Paul Kenny - CEO, Tipperary Energy Agency
  • Marion Jammet - Business Development manager, Irish Green Building Council
  • Brian Montayne - Manager, ESB eHeat
  • Seamus Hoyne - Head of Flexible Learning, Limerick Institute of Technology
  • Jenny Power - Programme Executive, SEAI
  • Sean Armstrong - Senior Technical Advisor, Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government
  • Cormac Allen - Assistant Head of School, Dublin Institute of Technology
  • Michael Hanratty - Managing Director, IHER Energy Services
  • Conor Hanniffy - Programme Manager, SEAI

Author biography

Tom Halpin is Head of Communications and a member of the senior management team at the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, with responsibility for leading strategic communications, corporate positioning and programme marketing. A graduate of UCD with a degree in Electronic Engineering, and a Diploma in Marketing, Tom has 20 years of experience in the energy sector having joined the then Irish Energy Centre in 1995. Previously Tom worked in engineering and marketing with a number of multinational companies.

Email [email protected]

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