17th February 2005

Minister for Environment, Heritage & Local Government

Installation Of Active/Passive Solar Panels

Ciarán Cuffe asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his plans to promote the installation of active or passive solar panels on buildings.

Minister for Environment, Heritage & Local Government: My Department actively promotes the conservation of fuel and energy through Part L of the national Building Regulations and the related Technical Guidance Document L. Progressively higher thermal performance and insulation standards introduced under Part L since 1992 have significantly reduced the energy required, from all sources, to heat space and water in buildings. For example, it is estimated that the increased Part L standards for dwellings, which came into effect on 1 January 2003, will reduce domestic heating requirements by 23 % to 33 % depending on the type of building; and will, by 2012, reduce CO2 emissions from dwellings by 300,000 tonnes per annum. This delivers on a commitment made in the National Climate Change Strategy (October 2000).

I understand that grants are available for demonstration projects of groups of buildings incorporating renewable energy (including solar energy) from Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI), under the "House of Tomorrow" Research, Development and Demonstration Programme. The main focus of this programme is stimulating widespread uptake of superior sustainable energy planning, design, specification and construction practices. SEI comes under the remit of my colleague, Mr Noel Dempsey TD, Minister for Communications Marine and Natural Resources.

My Department and local authorities are also taking a number of measures to encourage the voluntary use of renewable energy, including solar panels, in buildings.

Firstly, my Department ‘s Guidelines on the Design of Social Housing, which were issued to local authorities in 1999, specifically advise that designers may also wish to consider the possibility of utilising solar panels to provide a proportion of water and space heating, where economic and practicable. A number of pilot projects have been undertaken by local housing authorities under the Social Housing programme in order to promote environmentally sustainable housing, including the use of solar energy. Relevant pilot projects include-

· Tallaght (Brookview) scheme;
· Tralee (Rathass) scheme, and
· Navan (Windtown) scheme.

I understand that Wexford County Council are installing solar panels in a new 28 unit Social Housing scheme now under construction at Oilgate; and that SEI have allocated a grant of €140,000 in respect of these installations. Cork City Council have also specified solar panels in a number of dwellings covered by the The Glen Regeneration Project (Phase 1), due to be completed in March 2005.

Secondly, my Department sponsors the Sustainable Building Award, as part of the annual "Irish Architecture Awards" of the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland (RIAI). The criteria for this award include use of passive or active solar heating systems.