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Irish Home Rating Scheme Branded Greenwash

Posted: 29/10/2006

A scheme to give newly constructed houses in Ireland a rating similar to that used for fridges and washing machines has sparked a row. Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI), a state body, says any new house that complies with building regulations should be given a B rating under the proposed grading system. It says a typical house would get a B2.

But environmentalists claim it's just a load of greenwash. Patrick Daly, a lecturer in sustainable design at the Dublin Institute of Technology’s school of architecture, said a D would be more like it. He is not impressed by even the latest building regulations, and says that a B rating "supports the misconception that building regulations are advanced or of high quality, which is misleading. They are a minimal standard, which should be reflected in any rating.”

The Government intends that from January, every home built in Ireland will carry an energy-rating label on a scale from A1 to G3. From January 2009, the scheme will be extended to all houses for sale or to let. Recently, a leaked draft document revealed that SEI has suggested giving all new houses a B. But critics such as Daly say this will allow developers to reach an A classification with relatively modest improvements.

Environmentalists argue the proposed B rating is unrealistically high and will allow builders to advertise their homes as being at the cutting edge of energy efficiency when in fact they are wasteful by European standards.

Duncan Stewart, an architect and presenter of The irish TV series 'About the House', said the ratings would have to be revised within five years if houses constructed to current building regulations receive a B. He agreed that a B would leave little room for improvement and give houses an inflated rating. He said the country was experiencing an energy crisis and anyone living in a new home would know how expensive they are to heat.

The idea of the ratings system is to allow house buyers and tenants to compare properties on the basis of their energy performance. This will become impossible if the proposed B rating is introduced across the board, says Dr Patrick Waterfield, an independent energy consultant from Belfast and the author of The Energy Efficient Home.

However, some local authorities are insisting new houses are built to higher and greener standards than those set out in the current building regulations. Fingal and Wicklow councils are running pilot projects in which new houses must be 60% more energy efficient than the existing minimum standards.

Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown plans to introduce a similar scheme. The Department of the Environment plans to announce the labelling system for new homes next month and says it is consulting all interested parties before it comes to a decision.

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