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Domestic Building Energy Ratings Quarter 4 2023

Domestic BER audits increased by 17% in 2023, the highest year on record

Online ISSN: 2009-7441

CSO statistical publication, 26 January 2024, 11am

Key Findings

There was a 17% increase in the number of Building Energy Rating (BER) audits reported in 2023 compared with 2022 (See Table A and Table 1).
A total of 143,792 audits were published in 2023. This was the highest yearly total for the period 2009 to 2023 (See Table 1).
Dwellings built in the periods 2015-2019 and 2020-2023 were significantly more energy efficient than those from earlier periods, with 95% and 99% respectively receiving an A rating (See Figure 4 and Table 2).
Electricity was the main space heating fuel for 90% of audited dwellings constructed between 2020-2023 (See Figure 1 and Table 9).
Kildare (26%), Dublin County (23%), and Meath (23%) had the highest proportion of A ratings while Leitrim (3%) had the lowest (See Table 4).
The highest proportion of F and G rated buildings were in Roscommon (18%) and Leitrim (17%) (See Table 4).
In the Dublin postal districts, the highest proportion of A rated dwellings were in Dublin 18 (37%), Dublin 13 (26%), and Dublin 20 (25%) (See Table 5).

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (26 January 2024) released Domestic Building Energy Ratings for Quarter 4 (Q4) 2023.

Commenting on the release Kevin Hunt, Statistician in the Environment and Climate Division, said: "The total number of Building Energy Rating (BER) audits reported in 2023 was 143,792, a 17% increase over the 2022 total (See Table A). This was the highest yearly total for the period 2009-2023 (See Table 1). Over 1.4 million BER audits have been reported for this period overall. For Q4 2023, 37,345 BER audits were reported. This was an increase of 1% over the 37,025 audits reported for the same quarter in 2022 (See Table A and Table 1).

Period of Construction

Dwellings constructed between 2015-2019 and between 2020-2023 were more energy efficient than those built during earlier periods. A ratings were given to 99% of dwellings built between 2020-2023 and 95% of those built between 2015-2019. By comparison, 35% of dwellings constructed between 2010-2014 received an A rating, as did just 3% of buildings from the period 2005-2009 (See Figure 4 and Table 2).

Local Area Analysis

Kildare (26%), Dublin County (23%), and Meath (23%) had the highest proportion of A ratings. Leitrim (3%) had the lowest proportion of A ratings, followed by Cork City (4%) (See Table 4).

The highest proportion of F and G rated buildings were in Roscommon (18%) and Leitrim (17%) (See Table 4).

In the Dublin postal districts, the highest proportion of A rated dwellings were in Dublin 18 (37%), Dublin 13 (26%), and Dublin 20 (25%). The highest proportion of F and G rated dwellings were in Dublin 06 (22%), Dublin 07 (22%), and Dublin 03 (19%). The lowest average dwelling age was 15 years in Dublin 18, and the highest was 62 years in Dublin 06 (See Table 5).

Main Space Heating Fuel

For audited dwellings constructed between 2020-2023, 90% used electricity as the main space heating fuel. This was significantly higher than the proportion using electricity among dwellings constructed between 2015-2019 (49%) and between 2010-2014 (20%). By contrast, the proportion of audited dwellings using mains gas as their main space heating fuel was lower in newer buildings: 10% for dwellings built between 2020-2023, compared with 45% for those built between 2015-2019 (See Figure 1 and Table 9).

Floor Area

The average floor area for all dwellings with a BER audit was 115 square metres. This ranged from 164 square metres for detached houses to 60 square metres for basement dwellings (See Table 12).

Multiple BER Audits

A number of dwellings have had more than one BER audit carried out (See Figure 2). Of these, 12% received an A or B rating in their first assessment, while 34% received an A or B rating in their most recent assessment. Conversely, 16% of dwellings with multiple audits were rated F or G in their first assessment, compared with just 4% in their latest revision (See Table 15)."

Tables and Graphs

Table A: Number of Domestic BER certificates
number
Period	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	% change 2022/2023
Quarter 1	19,648	20,692	14,607	21,696	32,173	48%
Quarter 2	23,149	10,246	21,996	30,150	35,794	19%
Quarter 3	24,990	23,268	23,046	33,807	38,480	14%
Quarter 4	23,219	22,920	23,925	37,025	37,345	1%
Year	91,006	77,126	83,574	122,678	143,792	17%

Open in Excel: Domestic Building Energy Ratings Q4 2023 Table A (XLS 10KB)

	Mains Gas	Heating Oil	Electricity
2000-2004	40	36	20
2005-2009	44	32	19
2010-2014	45	32	20
2015-2019	45	5	49
2020-2023	10	0	90

	Earliest	Latest
A	2	7
B1	1	5
B2	3	8
B3	6	15
C1	9	15
C2	11	13
C3	12	11
D1	13	9
D2	12	7
E1	8	4
E2	7	2
F	7	2
G	9	2

	National Data	BER Database
A	9	13
B1	2	2
B2	4	4
B3	8	8
C1	10	11
C2	11	12
C3	11	11
D1	11	10
D2	10	9
E1	6	5
E2	5	4
F	5	4
G	8	6

¹Dwellings with BERs have been weighted using 2016 Census of Population data to estimate a BER profile for All Dwellings at National level (see Background Notes).

	A	B	C	D	E	F-G
1700-1977	2	7	20	23	19	30
1978-1999	2	11	42	31	10	5
2000-2004	1	16	58	18	4	1
2005-2009	3	39	48	8	2	0
2010-2014	35	56	7	1	0	0
2015-2019	95	4	0	0	0	0
2020-2023	99	1	0	0	0	0

Table 1 Domestic BER Certificates (2009-2023)

Table 2 BERs by Period of Construction (2009-2023)

Table 3 BERs by Type of Dwelling (2009-2023)

Table 4 BERs by County (2009-2023)

Table 5 BERs by Dublin Postal District (2009-2023)

Table 6 BERs by Main Space Heating Fuel (2009-2023)

Table 7 BERs by Main Water Heating Fuel (2009-2023)

Table 8 Main Space Heating Fuel by County (2009-2023)

Table 9 Main Space Heating Fuel by Period of Construction (2009-2023)

Table 10 Main Space Heating Fuel by Type of Dwelling (2009-2023)

Table 11 Type of Dwelling by Period of Construction (2009-2023)

Table 12 Average Floor Area by Period of Construction and Type of Dwelling (2009-2023)

Table 13 Average Primary Energy Use by Period of Construction and Type of Dwelling (2009-2023)

Table 14 Average Carbon Dioxide Emissions by Period of Construction and Type of Dwelling (2009-2023)

Table 15 Dwellings with Multiple BERs (2009-2023)

Table 16 BERs Weighted to National Level (2009-2023)

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Table 1 Domestic BER Certificates (2009-2023) ¹
number
Period	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	Total
January	4,118	4,707	8,588	6,537	6,993	7,014	6,533	5,270	5,692	5,181	5,526	5,892	3,768	5,941	8,829	90,589
February	6,341	5,661	9,052	6,315	8,535	7,554	7,674	6,877	6,821	6,504	6,900	7,625	4,796	7,370	11,065	109,090
March	8,781	6,181	8,960	6,518	8,209	8,396	7,278	7,547	7,635	6,525	7,222	7,175	6,043	8,385	12,279	117,134
April	8,081	5,492	7,795	4,450	8,301	8,740	7,598	7,407	7,139	7,060	7,249	1,997	6,272	8,390	10,410	106,381
May	7,954	5,484	8,884	5,887	8,652	8,728	7,718	7,956	8,180	8,398	8,334	2,454	7,790	10,508	12,982	119,909
June	8,737	5,803	7,476	4,866	7,268	8,213	7,998	7,450	7,701	7,591	7,566	5,795	7,934	11,252	12,402	118,052
July	8,786	5,939	7,250	5,540	7,101	9,397	7,670	6,562	7,124	7,510	8,356	7,608	8,099	10,467	12,428	119,837
August	7,259	6,442	7,531	5,046	6,969	8,165	7,647	7,028	7,241	7,148	8,226	6,888	6,780	10,922	12,478	115,770
September	7,483	7,419	8,838	4,964	8,276	9,917	8,356	7,665	7,972	7,226	8,408	8,772	8,167	12,418	13,574	129,455
October	6,571	8,381	9,541	6,686	8,976	10,765	9,218	7,919	8,050	8,301	10,790	8,392	9,053	13,018	13,421	139,082
November	6,946	11,550	9,590	8,786	9,578	10,886	8,389	9,001	8,384	8,261	6,175	8,061	8,824	14,616	14,276	143,323
December	6,298	7,988	9,453	6,347	6,922	7,764	7,297	6,064	5,676	5,734	6,254	6,467	6,048	9,391	9,648	107,351

Total	87,355	81,047	102,958	71,942	95,780	105,539	93,376	86,746	87,615	85,439	91,006	77,126	83,574	122,678	143,792	1,415,973
¹ Includes all Certificates for Dwellings

Table 10 Main Space Heating Fuel by Type of Dwelling (2009-2023)
% of row
Dwelling Type	Fuel Type					Total
Dwelling Type	Mains Gas	Heating Oil	Electricity	Solid Fuel	LPG	Total
Apartment	44	5	48	1	2	2,633
Ground-floor apartment	43	5	49	1	2	58,509
Mid-floor apartment	34	0	64	0	1	72,883
Top-floor apartment	38	2	57	1	2	60,280
Basement Dwelling	23	9	62	1	4	327
Maisonette	48	5	44	1	2	13,296
House	16	72	4	5	2	29,850
Detached house	14	65	13	5	2	336,550
Semi-detached house	47	33	14	5	1	309,872
End of terrace house	56	21	18	5	1	86,771
Mid-terrace house	58	20	16	5	1	159,802

Total	37	35	22	4	1	1,130,773

Table 12 Average Floor Area by Period of Construction and Type of Dwelling (2009-2023)
m²
Period	Apartment	Ground-floor apartment	Mid-floor apartment	Top-floor apartment	Basement Dwelling	Maisonette	House	Detached house	Semi-detached house	End of terrace house	Mid-terrace house	All dwelling types
1700-1899	65	52	46	57	51	104	147	163	150	119	108	123
1900-1929	62	47	44	53	44	87	119	128	124	99	92	103
1930-1949	49	59	46	52	44	73	111	124	114	86	83	101
1950-1966	71	60	56	57	66	68	116	130	118	90	87	108
1967-1977	69	62	60	56	84	67	131	143	112	87	86	113
1978-1982	66	64	63	56	77	72	138	146	100	85	83	114
1983-1993	59	57	55	59	53	70	147	153	98	84	81	113
1994-1999	66	62	58	68	66	77	153	166	104	85	84	114
2000-2004	74	70	69	78	66	88	168	182	106	97	93	118
2005-2009	84	72	71	79	85	93	171	201	108	102	98	118
2010-2014	88	75	71	74	86	100	193	233	123	117	110	162
2015-2019	80	81	84	88	62	110	185	208	124	119	114	135
2020-2023	–	74	72	78	112	108	–	199	119	111	107	113

All	76	67	67	71	60	90	147	164	110	96	91	115
– No data is available for this dwelling type and period of construction

Table 13 Average Primary Energy Use by Period of Construction and Type of Dwelling (2009-2023)
kWh/m²/year
Period	Apartment	Ground-floor apartment	Mid-floor apartment	Top-floor apartment	Basement Dwelling	Maisonette	House	Detached house	Semi-detached house	End of terrace house	Mid-terrace house	All dwelling types
1700-1899	446	398	368	453	381	449	419	384	356	381	343	376
1900-1929	498	396	377	457	358	442	417	389	349	387	350	378
1930-1949	376	331	250	388	457	429	374	365	309	324	299	331
1950-1966	428	310	252	366	386	301	336	323	277	306	279	298
1967-1977	383	301	249	345	334	300	291	274	262	265	241	267
1978-1982	323	272	230	278	306	293	244	232	236	234	212	232
1983-1993	349	285	236	276	305	260	228	213	223	230	210	220
1994-1999	279	259	223	259	249	224	206	189	208	229	210	204
2000-2004	257	225	192	223	232	193	188	174	195	198	179	187
2005-2009	176	182	159	184	177	156	151	142	165	163	150	156
2010-2014	572	119	99	125	132	96	101	93	85	90	84	93
2015-2019	103	60	47	57	151	53	58	55	53	53	50	53
2020-2023	–	47	40	46	49	39	–	40	41	40	39	41

All	233	211	155	223	278	183	235	208	199	213	220	206
– No data is available for this dwelling type and period of construction

Table 15 Dwellings with Multiple BERs (2009-2023)
% of total
Earliest Year	Latest Year															Total
Earliest Year	A1	A2	A3	B1	B2	B3	C1	C2	C3	D1	D2	E1	E2	F	G	Total
A1	0	0	–	–	–	0	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	0
A2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	–	0	–	–	–	–	–	0	1
A3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	–	0	–	–	–	1
B1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	–	–	0	1
B2	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	–	3
B3	0	0	0	1	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6
C1	0	0	0	1	1	3	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9
C2	0	0	0	0	1	2	3	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	11
C3	0	0	0	0	1	2	3	3	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	12
D1	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	3	2	2	1	0	0	0	0	13
D2	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	1	0	0	0	12
E1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	8
E2	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	7
F	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	7
G	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	9

Total	1	2	4	5	8	15	15	13	11	9	7	4	2	2	2	100
– No dwelling received this BER combination for the earliest and latest assessments

Domestic Building Energy Ratings Quarter 4 2023