The Northern and Western Regional Assembly (NWRA) and Galway City Council secured a €1 million grant from the EU Net Zero Cities Programme to support retrofitting in Westside of Galway city.

This programme aims to encourage 250 households to begin their retrofitting journey, and to train 60 people in retrofitting training courses.

Part of the funding will also be used to provide training courses in retrofitting for students, unemployed citizens, women and people with special needs in the region, with the aim of helping them to upskill and secure 'green jobs'.

Using the funding, the NWRA, Galway City Council, University of Galway, the Atlantic Technological University, the Galway Energy Co-Operative and the Westside Resource Centre, are jointly developing strategies and services to reduce carbon emissions from home heating in the Westside area of Galway City.

The NWRA and Galway City Council jointly submitted an application to the Net Zero Cities Programme with the objective of boosting retrofitting efforts in the Westside, a designated Galway City Decarbonisation Zone. This area is identified for its disproportionate concentration of high-energy consumers and energy-inefficient structures, alongside its potential for expanding green areas and enhancing air quality.

Alongside this the programme will support the creation of a 'one-stop shop' in the Westside of Galway City, to be named the "Warm Home Hub Westside".

The hub, managed by the Galway Energy Co-Operative, will offer guidance to homes with energy inefficiency. It will conduct sessions and consultations with contractors to help households retrofit. The aim is to inspire 250 households to start their retrofitting projects, cutting down on energy bills, carbon emissions, and improving home heating efficiency.

In addition to the creation of the hub, the Net Zero Cities Programme will also support the following initiatives:

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·University of Galway, in consultation with Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim Education and Training Board (ETB), and the Atlantic Technological University (ATU), will develop a “Retrofit Accelerator Training Programme”. The programme is set to incentivise 60 personnel to undertake retrofitting training, improve existing retrofit courses, and develop guidelines for contractors to monitor performance of retrofits.

·Just over 10 public and private sector partners (*see full list below) will collectively form a steering group to identify challenges associated with retrofitting in the Galway City Decarbonisation Zone and fund solutions to help overcome these challenges to improving energy efficiency in the area.

·The development of a report that can show what was learned during this project so that the information can be disseminated to interested parties, with the aim of potentially replicating the work in regions across Ireland.

Through these initiatives the programme aims to support the Council's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 7 per cent per annum in the Decarbonisation Zone from 2021 to 2030, leading to a 51 per cent overall reduction in line with the targets set out in the Climate Action Plan 2023.

John Daly, Economist with the Northern and Western Regional Assembly, said:

"We're delighted that the Net Zero Cities Programme has opted to help us kick-start our retrofitting ambitions in Galway City’s Decarbonisation Zone. The €1m funding will enable us to bring together leading experts and innovators to assess the challenges involved in retrofitting homes in the Westside of Galway City, develop and apply solutions, and share our learnings with our regional stakeholders.

"The Northern and Western Region of Ireland – which includes Galway City – is officially classified as a 'Lagging Region', one characterised by low productivity and a weak business environment. The region also performs poorly in terms of the number of homes with Building Energy Ratings between A and B2 in comparison to the national average. Indeed, many areas in the Northern and Western Region of Ireland are still reliant on oil and solid fuels as their primary source of heat, increasing their vulnerability in terms of health and exposure to energy price shocks. As such, the Net Zero Cities Programme can not only reduce people’s heating bills and carbon footprint in the region, but it also offers a potential roadmap for other parts of the Northern and Western Region of Ireland to develop similar types of programmes."

Mayor of Galway City, Cllr. Eddie Hoare, said: "As well as guiding households through their retrofitting journey, the Net Zero Cities team will be working with the construction industry to build capacity in the sector. This pilot project and the funding received through the EU Net Zero Cities Pilot Cities Programme provides Galway City with an excellent opportunity to test innovative approaches to reducing carbon emissions, in line with Galway City Council’s Climate Action Plan."

Kieran Cunnane from Galway Energy Co-Operative said there were many advantages of retrofitting beyond cost savings, including improved health and comfort in warmer homes and a positive contribution to an important climate and environmentally friendly scheme. He added: "The payback time for improving your home energy is often shorter than many people realise and also points to grants at the moment being quite generous.

"The Warm Home Hub will help streamline the retrofitting process for Westside residents. The initiative guides them in understanding and accessing grants, finding suitable contractors, overcoming obstacles, and identifying financing options."

Picture: Andrew Downes