Housing 4.0 Energy Updates
News from the three Irish pilots
The Ireland pilot of H4.0E will be located in South East of Ireland (Carlow, Kilkenny and Wexford), with each region committing to the delivery of four zero energy homes (ZEHs) each — twelve in total. This pilot will develop and utilise digitisation, 4.0 technology and integrate renewable energies.
The main construction principles will be prefabricated Timber Frame and Insulating Concrete Formwork (ICF) with the aim to use renewable building materials. Innovative technologies for sourcing renewable energy will be Air to Water Heat Pumps, Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR), PV and Thermal Solar Panels. Local Authority Social Housing tenants are the intended end users, with the aim of addressing fuel poverty.
At the moment all three pilots are roughly at the same stage, but there are different completion dates, as there are different buildings types and therefore the planning process differs from each other. All pilots have planning permission and are currently at pro-curement for final design teams. This process has tak-en longer than normal due to the additional targets and standards being addressed in the H4.0 project, which is over and above the standard requirements of the Local Authorities.
Because of the COVID-19 crisis there will be delays in completion. This will have influence on the timeline and deadlines, therefore the timeline will be subject to change. The current timeline for Substantial Comple-tion is that Wexford to be completed in May 2022, Carlow in the first quarter of 2021 and Kilkenny in the first quarter of 2022. This pilots will also be monitored for the uptake of low carbon and digital techniques, products, processes and services and the resulting reduction in embodied and operational energy.
