Overview

The Office of Public Works is responsible for managing the Government’s estate portfolio, including iconic heritage properties to the more every-day buildings for essential government and public services. The Government’s Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Amendment Act 2021, the annual Climate Action Plan (CAP), and the annually updated Public Sector Climate Action Mandate commit Ireland to a strategic direction to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

With a significant holding of heritage properties and a commitment to improve energy efficiency across its portfolio, the Office of Public Works identified a need for detailed in-house technical guidance with a readily applicable and standardised process to apply to historic buildings of varying typologies.

The resulting guidance, ‘OPW Approaches to Improving the Energy Performance of Heritage Properties in State Care’ provides a replicable methodology to assess existing buildings and identify appropriate energy renovation solutions that respect the heritage significance of each building. It builds upon the process recommended by I.S. EN 16883:2017 Conservation of cultural heritage - Guidelines for improving the energy performance of historic buildings and provides a structured methodology and practical advice to arrive at rigorously assessed and tailored solutions for historic buildings of different typologies, constructions, use and contexts.

The guidance is supported by a series of energy upgrade case studies to demonstrate the recommended approach in practice. The first two case studies were commissioned by the OPW while the subsequent four case studies were developed as part of the EU-funded research project ‘Support to the Renovation Wave – Deep Energy Renovation of Historic Buildings in Ireland’. The case studies span a variety of traditional building typologies found in Ireland and across Europe, and represent a variety of common challenges and constraints.

In early 2025, a three-day training programme was delivered to more than 400 participants from the OPW and across the Irish public sector, including representatives from the local authorities, government departments and heritage organisations. The training covered recent and upcoming changes to national and European policies, technical evaluation tools and techniques, and practical case-based learning. It established a shared understanding of how to balance climate action with heritage conservation principles.

This training is now available online via the EU Academy. The course is free of charge and open to all. More information can be found here.

Further project reports and summaries can be found on the European Commission webpage here:

Deep Energy Renovation of Historic Buildings in Ireland