€118m invested in energy upgrades maintain 2,400 jobs in 2014
Energy upgrades worth €118m saw 24,600 homes and 900 public and commercial buildings improved, and 2,400 jobs maintained through the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources’ Better Energy programme in 2014, according to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) who today published its end of year statement. €53 million of the investment came directly through Government grant support managed by SEAI.
Announcing the results Dr Brian Motherway, SEAI CEO said “2014 was also a record year for Building Energy Ratings with 120,000 published by more than 800 registered assessors. One quarter of our homes now has a BER and we are seeing evidence of BERs beginning to influence property sale and rental prices. Organisations also continued their drive for energy efficiency in 2014 with SEAI support to industry helping to save €35m.”
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Motherway continued: “When we see a record number of electric vehicles registered last year, and one fifth of our electricity coming from renewable energy, it suggests that we are beginning to respond to some of the more complex challenges of the sustainable energy agenda. Central to this is the need to move our reliance from fossil fuels to more sustainable sources of energy which will save us all money, make our economy more competitive and protect our energy security in the long term.”