3. Executive Summary

A Sustainable Energy Community (SEC) is a community that works together to develop and implement changes in the local community to become more energy efficient, use more renewable energy and consider smart energy solutions. Greystones/Delgany SEC (G&D) have embarked on this journey and in doing this have identified a baseline energy profile for their community. The population of the SEC area is approx. 18,140 people.

The energy demand for the Greystones/Delgany area shows that direct use of electricity is the largest proportion of energy demand by fuel type. Thermal fuels such as oil, gas and solid fuels make up a significant proportion of fuel consumption, with road fuels (petrol & diesel) making up the remainder.

Residential and commercial buildings make up most of the energy demand by sector.

Using national average unit prices, this equates into the following annual energy spend, energy consumption, CO₂ emissions for the Greystones/Delgany area. Also shown is the number of trees needed to be planted to offset these emissions.

Opportunities are presented throughout this report for improvements in energy efficiency in the domestic, commercial, transport, and public sectors. The greatest opportunity lies in retrofitting both residential, commercial and public sector buildings within Greystones/Delgany. Retrofitting will both improve the thermal performance of the building, increase comfort levels, and reduce the running cost for the buildings. 

The proposed energy upgrades for domestic buildings include:

• Roof insulation – improved thermal comfort.
• Cavity & External/Internal wall insulation – improve thermal comfort.
• Windows/Doors upgrade – improve thermal comfort.
• Lighting – improved lighting levels and reduce electricity costs.
• Heating upgrade (Heat pump) – improved efficiency and reduced heating costs.
• Solar Photovoltaic (PV) – generating green electricity and reduced electricity costs.

The proposed energy upgrades for non-domestic buildings include:

• Lighting – improved lighting levels and reduce electricity costs.
• Boiler upgrades – improved efficiency and reduced heating costs.
• Roof / wall / attic insulation – improve thermal comfort. 
• Solar PV – generating green electricity and reduced electricity costs. 
• EV charge points – offer new service for client/users.