Restaurants/Public Houses used mean 195 kilowatt hours per square metre (kWh/m2) in 2023. Retail units used 138 kWh/m2, and Office buildings used 80 kWh/m2 (See Table 5A).
Median annual electricity consumption in non-domestic buildings decreased in 2023 compared with 2022 in each energy rating category: A/B (-0.4%), C (-2.7%), D (-6.5%), E (-1.2%), and F/G (-7.6%) (See Table 2E).
Mean electricity consumption per square metre was highest in A/B rated buildings (137 kWh/m2) and lowest in E rated buildings (95 kWh/m2) (See Table 5B).
Retail units with A/B ratings used 159 kWh/m2 in 2023. This was 47% more than the 108 kWh/m2 used by those rated F/G (See Table 6A).
Offices with A/B ratings consumed 88 kWh/m2 in 2023, 21% more than the 73 kWh/m2 used by those rated F/G (See Table 6A).
This release is based on non-domestic buildings that have had an energy audit and that used electricity as their main space heating fuel. The release was compiled by matching the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland non-domestic Building Energy Ratings file with the ESB Networks metered electricity consumption file by meter point reference number.
The diversity of businesses included in this analysis leads to a wider variation in electrical demand compared with domestic usage. The median usage offers a more stable and robust indicator of overall demand year on year.
| Mean Electricity Consumption | |
| A/B | 73.261 |
| C | 33.408 |
| D | 23.761 |
| E | 18.841 |
| F/G | 18.096 |
| Community/Day Centre | 19.204 |
| Offices | 27.607 |
| Primary Health Care | 19.937 |
| Restaurant/Public House | 42.051 |
| Retail | 33.966 |
| Table A Mean Electricity Consumption per square metre by Year and Energy Rating 2023 | |||||
| Mean kilowatt hours per square metre | |||||
| Year | A/B | C | D | E | F/G |
| 2015 | 149 | 147 | 125 | 113 | 114 |
| 2016 | 147 | 147 | 125 | 111 | 111 |
| 2017 | 140 | 144 | 120 | 111 | 110 |
| 2018 | 148 | 143 | 127 | 113 | 110 |
| 2019 | 144 | 136 | 121 | 106 | 105 |
| 2020 | 134 | 125 | 108 | 99 | 96 |
| 2021 | 133 | 122 | 105 | 95 | 93 |
| 2022 | 141 | 127 | 110 | 97 | 102 |
| 2023 | 137 | 125 | 108 | 95 | 97 |
Of the non-domestic buildings using electricity as their main space heating fuel, the highest percentage of A/B ratings, by type of premises, was 29% of Community/Day Centres. The lowest was 4% of Restaurants/Public Houses (See Table 1B).
The median total electricity consumption in 2023 was 20,246 kWh in buildings rated A/B (down 0.4% since 2022), 14,129 kWh in buildings rated C (down 2.7%), 10,439 kWh in buildings rated D (down 6.5%), 9,801 kWh in buildings rated E (down 1.2%), and 7,885 in buildings rated F/G (down 7.6%) (See Table 2E).
Primary Health Care buildings rated A/B consumed a mean of 70,417 kWh of electricity in 2023, the highest of any combination of building type and energy ratings. The lowest mean consumption seen was also in the Primary Health Care building type, with those rated F/G using 7,908 kWh (See Table 3A).
By energy rating and type of premises, the highest mean floor area was in buildings rated A/B for Community/Day Centres (339 m2), Offices (1,027 m2), Primary Health Care (883 m2), and Retail (407 m2). The lowest mean floor area by type of building and energy rating was 111 m2, for Primary Health Care buildings rated E. Conversely, Restaurants/Public Houses rated A/B had the lowest floor area for that type of premises (214 m2), while those rated F/G had the highest (256 m2) (See Figure 2 and Table 4A).
| A/B | F/G | |
| Community/Day Centre | 339 | 197 |
| Retail | 407 | 172 |
The highest electricity consumption per square metre in 2023 was in Restaurants/Public Houses (195 kWh/m2), followed by Retail (138 kWh/m2), Offices (80 kWh/m2), Primary Health Care buildings (76 kWh/m2) and Community/Day Centres (68 kWh/m2) (See Table 5A).
The highest mean electricity consumption in 2023 by type of building and energy rating was 227 kWh/m2 in Restaurants/Public Houses rated C. Restaurants/Public Houses rated F/G had the lowest mean consumption for that type of premises (170 kWh/m2) (See Table 6A).
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (21 August 2024) published Non-Domestic Electricity Consumption by Building Energy Ratings 2023.
Commenting on the release, Kevin Hunt, Statistician in the Climate and Energy Division, said: "This analysis combines Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) data on non-domestic Building Energy Ratings with ESB Networks data on Metered Electricity Consumption, up to the year 2023. It includes only non-domestic buildings with a Building Energy Rating (BER) audit which use electricity as their main space heating fuel.
Electricity Consumption by Type of Premises
The type of premises that used the most overall electricity in 2023 was Restaurants/Public Houses, with mean annual consumption of 42,051 kWh. This was 52% higher than the mean consumption of 27,607 kWh for Offices, the second highest usage by type of premises in 2023 (See Table 2A).
Per square metre, the highest consumption of electricity was also in Restaurants/Public Houses, with mean consumption of 195 kWh/m2. This was followed by buildings used for Retail (138 kWh/m2), Offices (80 kWh/m2), Primary Health Care (76 kWh/m2), and Community/Day Centres (68 kWh/m2) (See Table 5A).
Restaurant/Public House buildings with A/B ratings used 24% more electricity per square metre in 2023 than those rated F/G (210 kWh/m2 compared with 170 kWh/m2). Retail units with A/B ratings used 159 kWh/m2 in 2023, 47% more than the 108 kWh/m2 used by Retail units rated F/G (See Table 6A). Similarly in 2023, Offices with A/B ratings consumed 88 kWh/m2, 21% more electricity per square metre than the 73 kWh/m2 consumption of those rated F/G (See Table 6A).
Electricity Consumption by Energy Rating
In 2023, non-domestic buildings of all types with A/B ratings consumed a median 20,246 kWh of electricity. Median consumption was 14,129 kWh for C rated buildings, 10,439 kWh for D rated buildings, 9,801 kWh for E rated buildings, and 7,885 kWh for F/G rated buildings (See Table 2E).
Median annual electricity consumption was lower in every rating category in 2023 compared with 2022, ranging from a 0.4% decrease in A/B rated buildings to a 7.6% decrease in F/G rated buildings (See Table 2E).
Per square metre, mean electricity consumption in 2023 was 137 kWh/m2 in A/B rated buildings, 125 kWh/m2 in C rated buildings, 108 kWh/m2 in D rated buildings, 95 kWh/m2 in E rated buildings, and 97 kWh/m2 in F/G rated buildings (See Table 5B).
Electricity Consumption by Period of Construction
The lowest overall electricity consumption per square metre was seen in non-domestic buildings constructed from 2000-2004, with 111 kWh/m2, while the highest was in buildings constructed from 1900-1966, at 123 kWh/m2 (See Table 5C). This varied by type of premises: for example, the lowest consumption by Office buildings was 71 kWh/m2 in those built from 1900-1966 (See Table 6B).
Floor Area by Type of Premises and Energy Rating
The mean floor area varied significantly by type of premises and by energy rating. Larger floor areas were generally seen in higher rated buildings (See Figure 2). Office buildings with A/B ratings had a mean floor area of 1,027 m2, while those with F/G ratings were 199 m2 on average. Conversely, the highest mean floor area for Restaurants/Public Houses was 256 m2 in those rated F/G (See Table 4A)."