Plans for a one day conference focusing on energy efficiency in historic buildings have been announced by the Irish Georgian Society.

The society is to host the event, in partnership with Department of the Environment, at Dublin Castle on 10 March.

The government has stressed it commitment to reducing energy use and cutting carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.

March's conference will address current research on the contribution of existing buildings to sustainability, the assessment of the energy performance of traditionally built buildings and explore the options that exist for making a building more energy efficient while avoiding damage to its fabric or to its character.

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Buildings contribute significantly to the country’s energy consumption and the standards of energy conservation required of new buildings have risen significantly in recent years.

However, upgrading the thermal efficiency of the existing building stock presents a challenge, particularly where the building is of architectural or historical interest and was built using traditional materials and construction methods.

The conference will be of interest not only to conservation architects, engineers, planners, and building energy assessors but also to owners of historic buildings, in particular owners of Protected Structures and buildings located within Architectural Conservation Areas, who wish to reduce their energy emissions and costs.

(PR/JM)