Ard Easmuinn Estate Project

 

What is Ard Easmuinn?

SEAI developed a tailor made energy management programme for the residents of 212 homes within the Ard Easmuinn housing estate in Dundalk. This is the first programme of its kind for Residents’ Associations, developed using the Power of One principles. The core of the Programme was to understand how to reduce the amount of energy used in the home.

 
 

Getting everyone involved

In Dundalk 2020 the first task was to get all of the residents interested and involved. Each member of the Ard Easmuinn residents’ association committee took 20 or so houses each and met with families to explain what this initiative would involve. A public meeting was then held with all residents and the response was overwhelming. In the end 180 of the 220 houses signed up.

 
 

Maintaining Interest and Commitment

Every household stated their commitment to the project by signing the Dundalk 2020 Charter and committing to a 20% energy saving over a one year period. A Tip Sheet Programme was then put in place. This provided a step-by-step guide on what householders could do to reduce their energy use in the home on a week by week and month by month basis.

 
 

Next steps for Ard Easmuinn

While the residents of Ard Easmuinn have been working on changing their habits and using energy more efficiently, their electricity use on a street by street basis has been monitored by ESB. It is important to collect this data as it can be used to understand if the 20% energy saving has been achieved. It will also provide a good example to other programmes of what can be achieved when small changes are made by an entire housing estate.

 
 

Savings

The residents are on target to make 18% savings by the first quarter of 2009, or based on prices (at early 2009), the estate could expect to save €50,000. This translates to approximately €250 per home - €50 saved on electricity and €200 saved on space heating.

 
 
If you are a member of a Residents’ Association and would like to run a similar project in your area, please contact SEAI for further details ph: 042 9391517.