Healthy Homes Ireland (HHI), is a joint initiative by Velux and DASBE partner, the Irish Green Building Council (IGBC), who presented an extensive report of policy recommendations on Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) to Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage, Kieran O’Donnell, T.D., cross party representatives and key stakeholders in the industry. The report “Our Place: Towards Healthier, Greener Homes” is a result of two years of research, commissioned to CBRE Ireland.

“Improving the energy efficiency of our homes and making them healthier must go hand in hand. While decarbonising our homes is critical to reaching our climate targets, health risks from poor indoor air quality, insufficient light, dampness and noise pollution must also be addressed.”

This report outlines a number of recommendations across six key areas – Leadership, Education & Upskilling, Occupant Empowerment, Regulation, Knowledge and Funding. DASBE addresses two of these key areas – Leadership, and Education and Upskilling:

Indoor air quality is a frequent topic of discussion in DASBE supported programmes for the construction sector, such as the Higher Diploma in Residential Energy Retrofit Management and Certificate in Energy Renovation of Traditional Buildings.
In fact the importance and need for respectable indoor air quality transcends to all buildings and typologies, not just in retrofits, but also new build.

Leadership
Buildings including homes require technical expertise to ensure a healthy and clean environment. A cross disciplinary approach to ensure this happens is an essential part of not just governmental expectations, but it falls in the hands of the construction industry as a whole.
To put it bluntly, homes need to be designed, constructed and renovated by people with the relevant expertise, because you and your family will be living in these buildings for your entire life.
Therefore, its important to get technical advice from the construction experts. Keep your home healthy in the same way as you would with your own body.

SEAI (Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland) has published a registered list of retrofitting one-stop-shops. SEAI are also in the process of setting up a list of renovation experts for traditional buildings.
Providing the industry with a list of experts with specific skillsets should provide confidence to the industry and assist homeowners in finding the best advice.

Education and Upskilling
DASBE has developed a number of programmes to upskill the construction industry and educate construction managers and professionals. IEQ is a frequent discussion in our programmes, as DASBE programmes cover sustainable carbon materials and systems, moisture control, air quality, energy efficient technologies and clear concise management on and off site. Working with the educational training boards and industry provides opportunity to upskill at all levels of education. It’s important to DASBE to give you the balance of understanding how to construct holistically using real life case studies, but also obtain the skills in carrying out these works with practical workshops.

Explore the full list of DASBE support programmes here

Read more on the Healthy Homes Ireland report on Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) here