Manage green projects more easily

An online cost calculator to help homeowners and professionals in Ireland manage green-build and renovation projects more easily has been launched.

Now live on Housebuild.ie and free to use, the cost calculator is the latest addition to the all-in-one green building hub, offering homeowners, self-builders, construction professionals and tradespeople everything they need in one place.

It was launched to mark this year’s recent World Green Building Week.

Eoghain Ryan, co-founder and director of Housebuild.ie, said: “Buildings are responsible for 38 per cent of global energy-related carbon emissions and 50 per cent of all extracted materials. Here in Ireland, the green-building revolution is underway with the Government’s Climate Action Plan setting out targets for new-builds, retrofit and home energy efficiency upgrades. Our aim at Housebuild.ie is to make this whole area easier to understand and navigate for everyone involved.”

The Government’s Climate Action Plan, published in 2019, set out targets to retrofit 500,000 homes to achieve a higher Building Energy Rating (BER) by 2030, and install heat pumps in 400,000 existing homes and businesses.

All new-build homes are now also required to have a BER rating of A2, putting them in the Near Zero Energy Building (NZEB) category.

“We get a lot of calls from customers who are looking to budget for green build projects and don't know where to start,” said Eoghain.

He added: “Most projects tend to run over with respect to time and money and getting finance to finish a project towards the end can be difficult if there have been overruns. Our cost calculator follows the same standard template used by quantity surveyors and allows professionals and individuals to put together a guideline budget for their project. It can be really big help to be able to put a structure on the potential cost of your project early on.”

Eoghain concluded: “Building an energy-efficient home can be tricky, so we’ve built this resource to give you access to all the construction details you may need. It is the most comprehensive repository of construction information and technical knowledge currently available in Ireland, with building guidelines right through from substructure to roof level and from airtightness to insulation.”