Government aims to upgrade a million homes

Meant to post this yesterday but other things got the better of me - the Irish Times yesterday reported on the government's plans for a Pay As You Save type scheme. Pay As You Save is an idea proposed by Construct Ireland that would enable householders to fund energy upgrades by paying for the work on their utility bills over time. The government's proposed scheme is instead termed Save As You Pay - putting the emphasis on the saving rather than the paying.

Harry McGee writes in the Irish Times.

However, the new scheme would vastly accelerate the retro-fitting of the national housing stock, with upwards of 90,000 dwellings a year being retro-fitted over a period of 10 to 12 years.

The funding model would also radically alter in order for change of that magnitude to be achieved. Officials believe that extending the grant scheme would not be feasible or realistic.

Instead, electricity and energy utility companies would be given new obligations to reduce progressively the amount of energy they generate each year.

Their roles would change to allow them to offer retro-fitting services and financing. Homeowners would get an assessment carried out by the utility. After completion, the cost would then form part of the utility bill, to be paid off over a long period of time.