Over 150,000 dwellings received BERs in 2024

A total of 153,558 Building Energy Rating (BER) certificates were awarded to new and existing dwellings in 2024.

That’s according to the CSO’s Domestic Building Energy Ratings report for Q4 2024 which found that the overall figure was up 7% on 2023 and more than for any year in the period from 2009 to last year.

The number of BERs published in October to December (Q4) 2024 was 43,960. This was 18% higher than the 37,247 audits from Q4 2023. In total, 1.6 million BER audits were published from 2009-2024.

Of the 1.2 million unique dwellings to receive an audit since 2009, 15% received an A rating in their most recent audit, 16% a B rating, and 33% a C rating.

A ratings were given to 99% of audited dwellings built between 2020-2024 and 95% of those built between 2015-2019. These were more energy efficient than buildings from earlier periods: 36% of audited dwellings built between 2010-2014 received an A rating, as did 4% of those from 2005-2009.

Electricity was the main space heating fuel for 92% of audited dwellings constructed between 2020-2024. This was substantially higher than the proportion among dwellings constructed between 2015-2019 (50%) and 2010-2014 (20%). Across dwellings from all periods, 24% used electricity as the main space heating fuel.

Mains gas was the main space heating fuel for 8% of audited dwellings built between 2020-2024, compared with 44% of those built between 2015-2019 and 36% of dwellings from all periods.

Heating oil was the main space heating fuel for 0% (rounded) of dwellings built between 2020-2024, 5% of dwellings built between 2015-2019. and 35% of all audited dwellings.

By county, the highest proportions of A rated dwellings overall were in Kildare (27%) and Meath (25%). Leitrim and Cork City had the lowest proportion of A ratings at 5% each. Cork City had the highest average dwelling age, at 46 years, while the lowest, 23 years, was in Kildare. Across the state the average dwelling age was 34.

The highest proportions of G rated dwellings were in counties Roscommon (12%), Leitrim (11%) and Tipperary (10%).

Among Dublin postal districts, the highest proportions of A ratings overall were in Dublin 18 (41%), Dublin 20 (28%), and Dublin 13 (28%). The highest proportions of G ratings were in Dublin 6 (13%) and Dublin 7 (13%). The highest average dwelling age was 63 years in Dublin 6, and the lowest was 15 years in Dublin 18.

The average floor area for all dwellings with a BER audit was 116m². The dwelling type with the largest average floor area was detached houses (166m²), and the smallest was basement dwellings (61m²).

Some dwellings have had more than one BER audit conducted. Of these, 12% received an A or B rating in their earliest assessment, while 38% received an A or B rating in their most recent assessment. In contrast, 16% of dwellings with multiple audits were rated F or G in their first assessment, compared with 4% receiving F or G ratings in their final assessment.

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