Energy

Excellence in Energy Efficiency Design (EXEED)

EXEED is an exciting new programme which is incentivising, facilitating and rewarding energy efficient business for doing what’s right by their environment and community. This programme allows businesses to establish a systematic approach to energy efficient design, construction and commissioning process for new building ventures or updates to existing buildings. The programme was set up to influence the next generation of building service engineers and how they model/build these buildings in the hope of developing more sustainable and future-proof buildings. Lawler Sustainability are helping business in all sectors, on any scale, to become EXEED certified.

This would mean not only is your building recognised as an energy efficient one but energy bills will be dramatically reduced and energy performance increases. For more information on the EXEED Certified Programme, click here.

Better Energy Communities (BEC)

Better Energy is Ireland’s national retrofit initiative aimed at upgrading building stock and facilities to high standards of energy efficiency and renewable energy usage, thereby reducing fossil fuel usage, energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions. Our team, at Lawler Sustainability, have years of experience in applying for and obtaining funding through this SEAI grant scheme. The BEC programme supports new approaches to achieving high quality improvements in energy efficiency within Irish communities. By bringing together groups of buildings under the same retrofit programme, BEC projects facilitate community-wide energy improvements more efficiently and cost effectively than might otherwise be possible. The programme focuses on improving the energy efficiency of Ireland’s building stock and supporting the use of renewable energy through:

• Delivering a cost-effective approach to boosting the energy efficiency of low income houses in mixed ownership estates
• Demonstrating sustainable financing mechanisms to fund retrofits and harness project savings
• Creating innovative partnership approaches that facilitate community access to existing local resources, thereby boosting and sustaining the impact of BEC support
• Stimulating employment through sustainable energy upgrading projects
• Supporting small scale renewable energy projects
• Domestic Deep retrofit upgrade

ACA – Accelerated Capital Allowances

The Accelerated Capital Allowance (ACA) is a tax incentive scheme that promotes investment in energy efficient products & equipment. The ACA is based on the long-standing ‘Wear and Tear Allowance’ for investment in capital plant and machinery, whereby capital depreciation can be compensated through a reduction in an organisation’s tax liability. The ACA scheme allows a sole trader, farmer or company that pays corporation tax in Ireland to deduct the full cost of the equipment from their profits in the year of purchase. As a result, the reduction in tax paid by the organisation in that year is currently 12.5% of the value of capital expenditure.

By contrast, the Wear and Tear Allowance provides the same tax reduction, but this is spread evenly over an eight-year period. d. Energy Credits. Under the Energy Efficiency Obligation Scheme, energy suppliers must support energy efficiency projects in businesses and homes across Ireland. Energy credits are available from utility energy suppliers for every kWh of energy saved. Companies who sell large amounts of energy are known as obligated parties and they have targets under the scheme. Obligated parties offer supports to make your home or business more energy efficient. For every unit of energy saved through these projects, they achieve energy credits towards their targets. This will help Ireland to reach national and European energy saving targets.