Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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179. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the reason the Government is waiting for the new Energy Performance of Buildings Directive to start requiring measurement of embodied carbon emissions (i.e. 2027), while other European Union member states, such as Denmark, are already addressing this issue, given that embodied carbon emissions from the construction industry account for 14% of Ireland’s national emissions and are likely to increase until 2030 if unaddressed. [25352/23]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Embodied Carbon in construction materials makes a significant contribution to the lifetime carbon emissions of new buildings. These embodied carbon emissions are being addressed by the Climate Action Plan, the review of the EU Construction Products Regulation and the review of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.

The Government is committed to working with industry stakeholders to increase the use of low carbon materials and technologies in the construction and renovation of buildings in Ireland, informed by evolving EU standards and by best practice in other jurisdictions.

Recent experience with defective materials in new home construction underlines the need to take a robust performance-based approach to the adoption of low-carbon materials. Alternative materials must meet the requirements of all parts of the building regulations, including requirements relating to durability, fire safety, structure, and resistance to moisture.

Ireland's approach will be based on environmental certification, and a framework for calculating the embodied carbon of a building, taking into account the outcome of the review of the EU Construction Products Regulation (CPR).

In accordance with the proposed Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) my Department is engaging with SEAI to put in place embodied carbon frameworks for 1 January 2027 for new buildings over 2000 metre squared and for new residential buildings from 1 January 2030. The Directive proposes that this declaration of Global Warming Potential will be included in the Building Energy Rating Certificate. There is significant work required to establish certified material databases, an accounting framework for embodied carbon, development of software and training of assessors. The draft EPBD is planned to be adopted by the European Institutions later this year. When adopted all Member States, including Ireland, will be required to comply with the requirements of this Directive.

Separately included among the outputs of the Climate Change Sectoral Adaptation Plan for Built and Archaeological Heritage will be a life-cycle assessment report illustrating a step-by-step approach to assessing the embodied and life cycle emissions involved in retrofitting an existing building. The report, planned for completion later this year, is intended to highlight the vital contribution reuse of the existing building stock makes to ‘avoided carbon’, in addition to protecting the heritage values of our historic built environment.