There’s another €14m of taxpayer funding available for firms implementing green projects, according to the SEAI, which is promoting its EXEED scheme for buildings. 

The latest grants will go to projects delivering best practice in the design, construction and management of energy-efficient buildings, and applicants will now be in the design phase of planning capital projects for new or existing buildings.

To qualify participants must follow the SEAI’s Excellence in Energy Efficient Design standard and embed energy efficiency in the design of their projects, focusing on energy uses such as heating, cooling, refrigeration, compressed air and business processes. 

The grant is open to public and private organisations planning an investment project of any scale or complexity.

Climate minister Eamon Ryan (pictured) said: “Buildings are a major source of C02 emissions, so to meet our climate goals we need to be innovative in how we design, build and manage them for optimum energy efficiency. The EXEED grant scheme supports designers and builders to be ambitious and put energy efficiency at the heart of their building and renovation projects.  It makes both environmental and economic sense.”

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SEAI chief executive William Walsh added: “EXEED ensures energy performance is considered at the earliest design stage of a building or process. This enables energy savings to be maximised at the outset and helps businesses to become more efficient, competitive and resilient. 

“In the last number of years, SEAI has supported 135 projects through EXEED, with CO2 savings averaging 46% for new build projects and 14% for upgrade projects. We have seen particular successes in manufacturing, warehousing, leisure and hospitality sectors where significant energy savings have been made. 

“We’d encourage any organisation that is at the design stage of a new build or major renovation project to contact SEAI and see how EXEED could benefit them now and into the future by minimising their climate impact.”

For more details, see here.

Grant support under EXEED covers professional fees in the feasibility and planning stage, while phase two covers the capital costs. Grant amounts typically cover over 50% of the pre-investment costs and 30% of the additional capital investment cost involved.

This year there’s an increase to €1m per project, acceptance of applications all year round and a longer implementation period for capital works.