The Irish Building Stock observatory (IBSO) platform uses processed Building Energy Ratings (BERs) also known as Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) downloaded from the Sustainable Authority of Ireland (SEAI) to present expert and non-expert users with visualisation metrics and data pertaining the Irish Housing Stock.

The platform barometers Irelands progress toward the national retrofit targets, published in Ireland’s national Climate Action Plan 2021 requiring, by 2030, 1 in 4, totalling 500,000 homes to be retrofitted to a B2 energy rating or higher along with the installation of heat pumps in 1 in every 5, totalling 400,000 homes. The Irish Building Stock Observatory (IBSO) measures and visualises progress towards these targets by dwelling type and location, cataloguing the evolution of energy upgrades in the stock over time. The data on this platform is updated quarterly. As time progress, more quarterly data will be added as well as building data and embodied carbon databases.

This IBSO links the BER database with census small area codes and electoral boundary files to map areas that have high concentrations of dwellings that may be targeted for retrofitting.

A quarterly IBSO newsletter detailing the evolution of the stock by quarter and over the year, quantifying the number of dwellings to be retrofitted and the number of heat pumps to be fitted yearly to meet national targets is published. If you wish to receive this newsletter, please sign up here.

Development of the IBSO platform was led by TU Dublin in partnership with University College Cork, part-funded by Enterprise Ireland, through Construct Innovate and MaREI, the SFI Research Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine [Grant No: 12/RC/2303-P2] in association with Build Digital.