Record Building Energy Rating audits carried out in final part of last year

CSO figures show homes in Kildare, Dublin and Meath tended to be most energy efficient

The number of Building Energy Rating (BER) audits reported in 2022 jumped by 47 per cent to 122,654, according to data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The number of audits conducted in the final quarter of last year (37,094) was the highest for any quarter on record.

Homes in Kildare, Dublin and Meath tended to be the most energy efficient, having the highest proportion of A ratings in their BER audits.

Some 23 per cent of dwellings in Kildare are A rated followed by 21 per cent of homes in Dublin County and Meath. Leitrim had the lowest percentage of A rated homes at 2 per cent.

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Homes built in 2015-2019 and in 2020-2022 were considerably more energy efficient than those built in earlier periods with 96 per cent and 99 per cent respectively given an A rating, the CSO said.

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Electricity was the “main space heating fuel” used in 86 per cent of dwellings where construction was completed between 2020-2022 and with a BER audit. This was up from 49 per cent of buildings constructed during 2015-2019 with a BER audit.

Donegal (76 per cent) and Mayo (70 per cent) were the counties using the highest proportion of heating oil.

Eoin Burke-Kennedy

Eoin Burke-Kennedy

Eoin Burke-Kennedy is Economics Correspondent of The Irish Times