Overview
Retrofitting Ireland’s existing housing stock is about much more than improving a BER rating.
For housing providers, a successful retrofit needs to reduce energy use while creating homes that are warmer, more comfortable and easier for residents to heat. Delivering that across hundreds or thousands of homes brings another challenge: how do you move from individual upgrades to a long-term, scalable retrofit programme?
In this episode of The Energy Canvas, Dylan Walsh, CEO of Celtic Dynamics, is joined by David McCourt, Director of Asset Management and Property Services at Co-operative Housing Ireland, to discuss the practical realities of delivering deep energy retrofit across large residential portfolios.
Drawing on his experience leading Co-operative Housing Ireland’s Improving Warmth and Wellbeing Programme, David explores how housing providers can plan upgrades, prioritise fabric-first measures, engage residents, access funding and build a long-term pipeline of retrofit projects.
What We Cover
- What a successful deep energy retrofit actually looks like
- Why tenant comfort matters alongside energy performance
- Using portfolio data to plan retrofit at scale
- Why an Energy Master Plan is an important starting point
- The role of insulation, windows and other fabric-first measures
- Why tenant engagement needs to begin before construction
- The challenges of retrofitting apartment blocks and mixed-tenure developments
- How community energy grants can support more complex projects
- Creating long-term project pipelines for contractors and housing providers
- How homes could become generators and stores of energy in the future
Key Takeaways: Successful retrofit goes beyond the BER
One of the strongest themes throughout the episode is that Ireland’s electricity system is undergoing a fuImproving the energy rating of a home is important, but it does not tell the whole story.
A retrofit ultimately needs to work for the people living in the property. That means considering comfort, heating costs and whether residents understand how to use new technologies effectively.
For housing providers, measuring success therefore means looking beyond the technical specification of an upgrade and considering the real experience of the resident.
Start with a plan for the entire portfolio
When managing a large housing portfolio, retrofit cannot be approached property by property without a wider strategy.
An Energy Master Plan can help housing providers understand how their building stock is currently performing, identify where improvements are most needed and establish a longer-term pathway for upgrades.
Auditing the portfolio and analysing information such as BER data provides the foundation for deciding what should happen first rather than retrofitting by guesswork.
Take a fabric-first approach
One of the clearest messages from the conversation is the importance of getting the building itself right before introducing new heating technology.
Improving insulation, windows and doors reduces heat loss and creates a stronger foundation for technologies such as heat pumps.
These measures also provide long-term improvements to the building, helping housing providers protect and future-proof their assets.
Tenant Engagement Can Determine Whether a Retrofit Works
A technically successful installation does not automatically mean a successful retrofit.
New heating systems can operate very differently from the systems residents are accustomed to. If people do not understand how their new system works, there is a risk that the expected comfort and energy savings will not materialise.
David highlights the importance of treating tenants and co-operative members as key stakeholders in the project and involving them as early as possible.
Rather than waiting until a new heating system has been installed, engagement can begin months before construction. In-person sessions provide an opportunity to explain what is changing, answer questions and address misconceptions about technologies such as heat pumps.
As David explains:
“The earlier you can get them involved in the project, the better and more successful it’s going to be.”
Why Apartment Retrofit Is More Complicated
Scaling retrofit becomes particularly challenging in apartment blocks and multi-unit developments.
A single development can include social housing tenants and private homeowners, with different stakeholders responsible for decisions and different levels of grant support available.
That creates a practical funding and incentive challenge.
Even when there is a clear technical case for upgrading the building, aligning owners, funding structures and project requirements can make delivery considerably more complicated than retrofitting an individual house.
Community energy grants can help address some of these barriers by supporting communal areas and enabling works associated with larger projects.
Funding Needs to Support Long-Term Delivery
Funding is another major part of the conversation.
Grant support can significantly change the economics of deep retrofit, particularly when different funding mechanisms and energy credits can be brought together.
But David also raises the importance of certainty.
Scaling retrofit requires a supply chain capable of delivering projects year after year. Contractors are more likely to invest in their people, partnerships and supply chains when they can see a clear pipeline of work ahead.
Aggregating smaller housing portfolios can therefore help create larger programmes of work and provide the industry with greater visibility over future demand.
Why This Matters Now
Ireland’s retrofit challenge is ultimately a question of scale.
Delivering individual successful projects is important, but meeting longer-term decarbonisation goals requires housing providers to turn those individual projects into repeatable programmes.
That means bringing several elements together:
- reliable information about existing building stock
- long-term Energy Master Plans
- fabric-first improvements
- early and ongoing resident engagement
- accessible funding
- solutions for complex multi-unit developments
- a predictable pipeline of projects for the supply chain
The challenge is not simply finding the right technology. It is creating a system that allows good retrofit projects to be delivered consistently across much larger portfolios.
Looking Ahead: Homes as Part of the Energy System
The conversation also looks beyond today’s retrofit programmes.
As homes become more electrified, David sees the potential for residential properties to play a much more active role in the wider energy system.
Rather than simply consuming electricity, homes can increasingly generate energy through technologies such as solar PV and potentially store energy for use at different times.
As David puts it:
“We’re consumers; we can be generators, and we store energy.”
Technologies such as hot water cylinders, underfloor heating, batteries and other forms of storage could allow residential portfolios to become increasingly flexible energy assets.
For housing providers, this means today’s retrofit decisions are not only about reducing current energy consumption. They can also help prepare homes for a more flexible and electrified energy system in the future.
What This Means for Housing Providers
For organisations managing large residential portfolios, the discussion highlights the importance of thinking beyond individual retrofit measures.
The starting point is understanding the portfolio as a whole.
With the right data and a clear long-term plan, housing providers can identify which homes should be prioritised, select the most appropriate measures and build a pipeline that gives residents, contractors and funding partners greater certainty.
At the same time, residents need to remain at the centre of the process.
Ultimately, a successful retrofit should not only deliver better energy performance on paper. It should create a home that is warmer, more comfortable, more affordable to heat and better prepared for the future.
Guest: David McCourt
David McCourt is Director of Asset Management and Property Services at Co-operative Housing Ireland.
He has extensive experience in building performance, energy retrofitting and large-scale asset management within the social housing sector. His work includes leading the Improving Warmth and Wellbeing Programme, which is delivering deep energy retrofits across Co-operative Housing Ireland communities.
Memorable Quotes
“We’re consumers; we can be generators, and we store energy.”
“The earlier you can get them involved in the project, the better and more successful it’s going to be.”
“If you get that right, that’s whole life type of improvement. That’s protecting and future proofing the asset going forward.”
About The Energy Canvas
The Energy Canvas is a podcast from Celtic Dynamics, exploring the intersection of engineering innovation, sustainability, and business outcomes in Ireland’s evolving energy landscape.
Produced by DustPod, the show highlights leaders, researchers, and innovators driving real climate action and decarbonisation solutions.
Get in Touch
We work with organisations across Ireland on energy strategy, decarbonisation, and system design. If you’d like to continue the conversation, get in touch below or connect with us on LinkedIn.
We’re also always looking for new voices for The Energy Canvas, so feel free to suggest future guests or topics.
