The Irish H4.0E pilot, overseen by 3 Counties Energy Agency (3CEA), will be located in South East of Ireland (Carlow, Kilkenny and Wexford), with each region committing to the delivery of four zero en-ergy homes (ZEHs) each — twelve in total.
This pilot will utilise digitisation and 4.0 technology and integrate renewable energies. The main construction principles will be prefabricated Timber Frame and Insulating Concrete Formwork (ICF) with the aim to use renewable building materials. Innova-tive technologies for sourcing renewable energy will be Air to Water Heat Pumps, Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR), PV and Thermal Solar Panels. Local Authority Social Housing tenants are the intended end users, with the aim of addressing fuel poverty.
Wexford County Council
Like all 3CEA pilots, the Wexford pilot, with two floors and four units in an apartment block, is designed reading the Passive House principles, aiming for an A-rated nearly Zero Energy Building (nZEB) or if possible, for a Zero Energy Building (ZEB). At the moment, the County Council Wexford building department is working on procuring the design team, on drawing updates to GA and Detail design and getting a Fire- and Disability Ac-cess Certificate (DAC). They are aiming and preparing for Planning Stage 2. The Wexford Homes are aimed to be delivered by May 2022 – there is a risk that they may not be complete until August 2022, but 3CEA continues to work with Wexford to ensure delivery as early as possible.
Carlow County Council
The Carlow pilot, with one floor and four units in an apartment block, will be built in ICF as the construction type and uses in situ concrete including 70% Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS), which will reduce the embodied CO2 emissions by around 40%, compared to a standard concrete brick construction type. The Carlow project acts as well as a prototype for the ICF construction type for the online platform developed by Open Systems Lab. 3CEA was and is providing project data to OSL to develop further the platform. The Carlow pilot is within its timeline despite delays due to Covid-19. The stage of “Substantial completion on-site” will be reached in Q3 2021.
Kilkenny County Council
Kilkenny County Council (KCC) is providing units on two sites. Because of the building types, they have a shorter planning process than Wexford. The building at the site in Graiguenamanagh will be a ICF construction type and the building at the site in Mullinavat will be in closed Panel Timber Frame—this is because KCC is aiming to develop the cost-effective version whilst not interfering with their own set timeline. There will also be significant embodied CO2 emission savings at these sites, and the Kilkenny pilot is as well within its timeline despite the COVID-19 delays. The stage of “Substantial completion on-site” of both sites will be reached in Q1 2022.