Energy efficiency is fast becoming a crucially important selling point for new homes among a public whose nervousness about future costs is rising with every hike in the price of oil.

The targets that developers and builders must meet have, of course, already been set.  From January of next year all houses for sale or rent must have a building energy rating (BER), a method of measuring energy efficiency, and the higher the rating a home has, the more it is going to attract prospective buyers.

The aim under the current Programme for Government is for A-rated houses to become the standard and John Gormley as Minister for the Environment has already taken the first steps towards achieving this. Basically, ‘A’ is the best rating a house can achieve, though there are also different gradings within this top level, which house buyers will no doubt become increasingly more aware about.

A number of developers have already gone away ahead of the posse in achieving high levels of efficiency. Noteworthy among them is Dwyer Construction of Baltimore in west Cork who have been responsible for Kilmoney Woods, a scheme of 29 houses on Mountain Road, Carrigaline, just off the main road to Kinsale.

Hailed as “Ireland’s first geo-thermal residential development”, the range of energy-saving technologies employed is impressive, including solar panels for water heating, wood-burning stoves, high-performance wall insulation and argon-filled double-glazing, but the centerpiece is the use of heat pumps to provide heating to underfloor piping and to radiators.