Elmhurst Consultation Response: Support for low carbon heating in Northern Ireland
On 8 October 2024, the Northern Ireland Government (Department for Economy) published a consultation on support for low carbon heating in residential buildings. The consultation closed on 10 January 2025, and Elmhurst are pleased to have responded on behalf of its members.
Consultation Overview
The consultation seeks to evaluate the support options for low carbon heating technologies in residential buildings across Northern Ireland. The feedback received will be used to inform future policy changes in this area.
The areas covered in the consultation include:
- Eligible Technologies – The type of low carbon technologies that would be available for future support
- Building Efficiency, Suitability and Eligibility
- Consumer Considerations and protections
- Financial Assistance
- Supply Chain and Skills
Elmhurst’s Response Summary
A summary of the key responses that Elmhurst has submitted to the consultation are as follows:
- A Pre and Post EPC is essential for adopting a fabric first approach as well as allowing consumers to make informed choices when it comes to any improvements being made to their property. Data can also be used by the Government to analyse improvements and measure carbon savings. The additional service of an Energy Consultant should also be used, to allow for further advice to be given to both the homeowner and also the installer. They may be competent in completing heat loss calculations in order to accurately size a heat pump.
- EPC reform is paramount, with Elmhurst’s suggestion to show more than just a cost metric on the EPC. This allows for different metrics (cost, carbon and energy consumption) to be viewed depending on who is looking at it and for what purpose it is being used for.
- The focus of this consultation must be on reducing carbon emissions and less emphasis on fuel poverty.
Following communication with Elmhurst members on 12th December, linking to our draft consultation response, we have now collated the feedback and have submitted our final response to the consultation.
Read Full Consultation Response
To read Elmhurst’s full response to the Northern Ireland consultation on the support for low carbon heating in residential buildings, please click the button below.
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Further Resources:
To view the consultation, please click the following link: https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/consultations/support-low-carbon-heat-residential-sector