The grants will support excellence in energy efficient design. 

The Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan TD has announced government grants worth €14 million for projects delivering best practice in the design, construction and management of energy-efficient buildings.

Embed energy efficiency in design of projects

Successful applicants will be in the design phase of planning capital projects for new or existing buildings. In order to qualify for a grant, participants must follow the SEAI EXEED (Excellence in Energy Efficient Design) standard and embed energy efficiency in the design of their projects, focusing on energy uses such as heating, cooling, refrigeration, compressed air and business processes.

The grant is open to public and private organisations that are planning an investment project of any scale or complexity.

Minister Ryan said: “Buildings are a major source of C02 emissions, so to meet our climate goals we need to be innovative in how we design, build and manage them for optimum energy efficiency.

'Makes environmental and economic sense'

"The SEAI’s EXEED grant scheme supports designers and builders to be ambitious, and put energy efficiency at the heart of their building and renovation projects. It makes both environmental and economic sense.”

William Walsh, CEO of SEAI said: “SEAI EXEED ensures energy performance is considered at the earliest design stage of a building or process. This enables energy savings to be maximised at the outset and helps businesses to become more efficient, competitive and resilient.

"In the last number of years, SEAI has supported 135 projects through SEAI EXEED with CO2 savings averaging 46% for new build projects and 14% for upgrade projects.

"We have seen particular successes in manufacturing, warehousing, leisure and hospitality sectors where significant energy savings have been made.

"We’d encourage any organisation that is at the design stage of a new build or major renovation project to contact SEAI and see how SEAI EXEED could benefit them now and into the future by minimising their climate impact.”

Recent recipients of SEAI EXEED support

• Aurivo Consumer Foods in Donegal who got SEAI EXEED certification following the installation of a heat recovery system for their milk pasteurisation process which reduced CO₂ emissions by 85%;
• Johnson & Johnson Vision Care in Co. Limerick, who achieved SEAI EXEED certification for a new gym and medical building, where improved insulation and air handling units with heat recovery were installed, making the facility 25% more efficient;
• Westpark Fitness in Dublin who installed new heating and cooling equipment as well as electric vehicle chargers, resulting in 40% savings in gas use and 10% in electricity.

There are two stages for grant support under SEAI EXEED. Phase 1 gives grant support for professional fees in the feasibility and planning stage, while phase 2 covers the capital costs. Grant amounts typically cover over 50% of the pre-investment costs and 30% of the additional capital investment cost involved.

A number of changes have been introduced for SEAI EXEED in 2021, including an increase in grant support available to €1 million per project, acceptance of applications all year round and a longer implementation period for capital works.

To find out more about SEAI EXEED grants and register your interest, visit www.seai.ie/EXEED