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Expert guests from the Construction Industry explaining how to Retrofit your home in an easy to understand way.
00:00:05:19 - 00:00:27:13
Unknown
How are we doing, folks? And welcome to another episode of the Behind the Walls podcast with Pete. And very. And today we have yet another expert on borders. We have Mr. Owen McGann from EMG Energy Consultants. So we're going to be talking about your home energy, assessments on my own and sign us today on.
00:00:27:19 - 00:00:48:23
Unknown
Yep. Home energy assessments, one step shops, anything energy related, anything ending energy related. Own is your mine. And I can again testify for this because Owen did come to my home and did do my home energy assessment, which I found really helpful going forward. We mentioned all the time in the podcast. It's pretty much your first step in on your journey.
00:00:49:00 - 00:01:08:01
Unknown
And it's it's, it's basically giving you the information to be able to make decisions on my own saying that, oh yeah. So look, I suppose, could we are we the first port of call? Well, with with the likes of the library and everything else, homeowners are going straight to the one stop shop to go in to book it in.
00:01:08:03 - 00:01:37:18
Unknown
Fergal and the team, they're going to, I suppose. Look to see what type of house it is, where it's situated. What year or construction, what type of construction, so on and so forth. So then they'll contact ourselves in EMG energy, and we'll go over and visit a homeowner. What's our initial, our initial job is to carry out the be our to the the energy rating, find, find a starting point.
00:01:37:20 - 00:02:03:08
Unknown
How energy efficient is the house for us, I suppose. Look, an a big thing is every house is different. Yeah, everyone's circumstances are different. We all have wishlists, and I know we've spoken about the kitchen or the pantry or the extension, but really, what people want is a warm, comfortable, cozy, energy efficient, low maintenance house. Yeah.
00:02:03:10 - 00:02:25:22
Unknown
So we, we see where the house stands at the time. Right. Is it a it has to be for the oneself to have it has to be lower than a B tree. So generally when we get out to these houses there can be D's or E's we've had if GS we've, we've had everything. Yeah. But the from there then we, we generate a roadmap.
00:02:26:00 - 00:02:49:04
Unknown
So the roadmap looks like if you had, if you were to insulate the attic and your starting point was G would insulating the attic bring it to an if. Yeah, if you were to prompt a cavity wall to bring you down to an E and then you start looking at windows, doors, ventilation, after 4 or 5 chimneys, open fires in the house that could be removed.
00:02:49:06 - 00:03:08:01
Unknown
But it's really, as you said before, the fabric first approach the tackle the fabric, look at the elements it could be upgraded from. Then you look at from there on, you're look and see what way you could heat house. What's the best way of control this and look at the icing on top is often the PV panels.
00:03:08:06 - 00:03:31:01
Unknown
So we've we started at DF, we've done the attic insulated and it's coming into any walls, windows, doors, sees. By the time you're putting in a heat pump you're definitely at the B2, if not a little bit better. And then the solar PV, the you're generating onsite electricity and that can more often than not bring in today the A1.
00:03:31:03 - 00:03:54:18
Unknown
Yeah. So we're talking about a host. It could be 60 7030s that now is better than building regulations. That could be unfair for producing more energy and consuming. Yeah. So I suppose just to again simplify this a little bit. Well just stay with people. So on on one of his team will come out to the house and then they will basically give you a document.
00:03:54:20 - 00:04:14:02
Unknown
That is exactly what I just said. There is the roadmap that allows you to sit down and decide what what route you want to take. Obviously, it allows, you discuss with a one stop shop or, you know, and make your decisions based off the information you've given. So it's a snapshot of where the House is at that moment in time when you visit.
00:04:14:06 - 00:04:36:13
Unknown
So it's a it's a theoretical journey that you can then, decide which which route to take. Is that a good way putting. That'll be a good way of putting it. And FCA, you have even they've they've set out guidelines on what we have to produce for the homeowner. It's the home energy assessment or the hair G yes.
00:04:36:15 - 00:05:00:00
Unknown
And for that hatchet or is it 350 or get Grant from CAA that any homeowner is entitled to as long as they they go through a one stop shop, like a via B to to to get it. And in that year we have to give them an A, B, r as a host and roadmap to off grid and a proposed b PR.
00:05:00:02 - 00:05:23:18
Unknown
So at the end of that roadmap and we will often design it to a point where it'll meet the minimum targets and the minimum target is your B2. Yeah. And then additional measures that may be done on top of that. Okay. And some people also tend to do it at a time for other people's people. It won't. But it might not make a difference at the time either.
00:05:23:20 - 00:06:02:00
Unknown
And back to back to single people was a couple in their house. It might suit him that they want to move out and dig up the floors and put in underfloor, or it might be another couple that they don't want to move out, or they have young kids. Yeah. And they want to stay living in the house when, while the works are going on and that's that's possible as well because the projects are the they tend to be really well project managed, from start to finish, there's a lot of work goes into the the roadmap and the hatches and the design and the costings and you know, help from the one
00:06:02:01 - 00:06:34:17
Unknown
stuff shops that when it actually goes to site it runs fairly smoothly. Yeah. And a turnover time is, it's generally quick enough depending on the works. So how important is that for, for you. Yeah. Yeah. It looks to hit. Yeah. Is the starting points where we you know like homeowners would ring up and ask for any can we have an approximate cost of one of the costs of grabbing my house without the information from the the hit.
00:06:34:17 - 00:06:59:10
Unknown
Yeah. It's virtually impossible. I mean, it's all just guesswork. So it's very important for us. Just to recap them on on the sand areas, your starting point is to contact a one stop shop. They can apply and claim the grant, the 350 or grant far to year for you. It's discounted upfront from the overall cost of the of the home energy assessment.
00:06:59:12 - 00:07:23:14
Unknown
So it's true one stop shop and then an independent assessor, which is mandatory as well, conducts the actual assessment. So someone to go on who will provide that service, that and comes back to ourselves. And from the information we get from year to year, we can provide estimate costs. So homeowners then can look at the documents and say, if I complete all these measures, it's going to cost X amount.
00:07:23:16 - 00:07:43:07
Unknown
I'm going to get X amount of grant, which is discounted upfront as well. So it's it will cost me ness, whatever it is going to cost. So they've loads of information there. What I would say is that, like if I had me way everyone in the country would have a home energy assessment committee says there's no, rules of you're not stuck with whichever one stop shop you go through to get the hit.
00:07:43:08 - 00:08:05:04
Unknown
Yeah, you don't have to go any further and do any work, but the information that's generated forward from that will show you, if you look to complete a full home energy upgrade in one go, as the one stop shop will do, and bring it to B2 and beyond. That's one matters. You can also call individual grants, though obviously we've spoken before about the difference between one stop shop grants and individual grants.
00:08:05:04 - 00:08:26:11
Unknown
There's more incentives to go down the one stop shop route. So as a homeowner, you can make that decision, as the one was saying. It comes down to finance. Unfortunately, that's that's what a lot of that comes down to. And your affordability and what you can do, but you can do it piecemeal. There's just more incentives to go all the way and go, yeah, I think you made a very important point earlier as well on that.
00:08:26:11 - 00:08:50:02
Unknown
Every house is different, and that is the truth. I see it all the time. You know, it depends what era your house was built in. If it was built in the 50s or 60s, it would have a certain type of of construction. 70s. Things started to evolve. 80s things went mental then into the 90s and 2000. So, you know, the different generations of of construction technology are changing and different types of construction will happen on it.
00:08:50:02 - 00:09:10:01
Unknown
There's just so many different options out there. So there is no kind of one fix all out there really. So the the the home energy assessment for me gives people the information that they need to suit them bespoke for their own home. And I think that's the important part about it as well, because it's very easy to get advice on, you know, certain things.
00:09:10:01 - 00:09:28:12
Unknown
But if it's not relevant to your home, the advice isn't relevant at all. So what? I was quite impressed when when you come back to my home, obviously. Look, I built my own home. You know, it's it's 20 years old now, so I, you know, the technology back then in comparison to what's now on the regulations back down and comparison and where we are now are different.
00:09:28:14 - 00:09:51:04
Unknown
But I was very impressed with how accurate you were with the information that you were able to see in, in your assessment. And again, I just would like to say to people it's a it's definitely an in-depth look into the construction of your home, but they're not looking at the interior of the home in terms of, you know, they don't care if there's, if there's, you know, the house is lived in, it's going to be lived in.
00:09:51:04 - 00:10:18:14
Unknown
They're only interested in the fabric of the home. But your accuracy was on the ball. You were able to actually, pinpoint exactly where my my, my home was in terms of, you know, the the structure of the house, you know, the style of construction that it was. And therefore you're able to give me that road map. Now, I you know, obviously I'm in construction and I understood a lot of it myself, but it was actually great to see because I actually sat down with partner Sharon and we looked at it together.
00:10:18:16 - 00:10:32:24
Unknown
And, you know, as always, a husband can never explain certain properties that are we thought when we had this property, they don't want those were actually able to disclose that. And then was able to go, oh yeah, I can see this. And I can understand why did you say down as a well, I did, but you just you know yourself so that that is a big part of it.
00:10:32:24 - 00:10:55:06
Unknown
Yeah. And it the, the the initial assessment or the initial survey and we call it a home energy assessment. But the homeowners input is so important. Yeah. Because we can go in and I can look at the construction and we can say, that's 1970s. And more than likely it's in Dublin. So it's going to be mass concrete.
00:10:55:06 - 00:11:12:02
Unknown
It's going to be, isn't it? But in reality the homeowner has lived there. They know they've they've come across literature of some kind. So they know when the year of construction once they've drilled holes in the wall for whatever it might be and for whatever reason. So they know how it's constructed, which rooms are called, what they think.
00:11:12:05 - 00:11:31:11
Unknown
So that feedback is really important. What we always try to do was go in, meet a homeowner. I suppose we will will describe what the job is going to be. So we're going to we're going to draw up a set of plans for the House. We're going to start on the outside. We're going to photograph it.
00:11:31:13 - 00:11:55:18
Unknown
Take plans. We can measure the floor area, ceiling heights, windows, doors. You're looking at insulation. You're looking at heating systems. We'll get a full feel for the house. And then before we leave, it might only be for ten minutes. Sit down the kitchen table. And as we're filling in our survey sheet, we'll go through the floors, the walls of different eras of construction, what they may or may not be.
00:11:55:20 - 00:12:19:14
Unknown
And then what's their wish list like? Do they do the want? Like people will have preferences. Some people might want internal drilling. People might want external because they want a new look in the house or they've just fitted a new kitchen or bathrooms. They don't want to go. People in the kitchens don't go the right lane. And so like it's to find the right mix and match.
00:12:19:14 - 00:12:39:14
Unknown
That's right for the house, right for the homeowner, right for the whole situation. And it's it is a journey. And it starts in that meeting. Now, it may not go any further than that meeting, but at least you're getting a full feel and without that, you can't give the right advice. And you know what? You could end up.
00:12:39:14 - 00:13:02:09
Unknown
You could end up, I suppose, pushing the homeowner away from retrofitting the house if you're not giving them the right advice or listening to what they're telling you. Yeah, because I think as well it's it's allowing people who own their home or who've just purchased the home, whatever it is to, to make and educated decision. So, you know, you're basically making a decision of proper, informed information.
00:13:02:11 - 00:13:18:12
Unknown
Whereas, you know, too many times in life people make decisions based off hearsay or based off, you know, what the fella down the pool says or whatever, you know, oh, you know, them houses. Well, this well-designed, whereas this is factual and it also gives you your options. So it's an and again, the other thing about it is there's absolutely no obligation with us.
00:13:18:17 - 00:13:39:21
Unknown
So you can get, you know, your home energy assessment done. And you don't have to do anything with it for, you know, a considerable period of time. But at least you have the information on it's a discussion point and it allows you to make a proper, informed decision, which will allow you then maximize the grounds will allow you maximize, you know, the investment that you're going to make in your home.
00:13:39:23 - 00:14:17:03
Unknown
So, in terms and of, of, gives a little bit more detail then in terms of, so if somebody has has got the home energy assessment done, then the next steps for them down to after that would be to to to make their own decision. Or would you advise that they, they maybe get in contact with someone from a one stop shop, look and like that when they've come to us and okay, we, we do different levels of consultancy but specifically with the, the history and the grant aided here year, they're already coming through a one stop shop by the time they've come to us because the, the one, the one stop shop
00:14:17:03 - 00:14:41:23
Unknown
company has, has sent them on and applied for the grant for them for the home energy assessment. And I do think that for the mentioned it that every home should have a home energy assessment. I think that was the these rules at the time. They wanted everyone to have this and they were to the grant of €350 was towards that to get people get have everyone know what position their house is in and what upgrades are available and grants.
00:14:42:00 - 00:15:02:09
Unknown
And the one way to control it was to to put it through the one stop shops, because I can price works for people the way. Of course the way insulation and different products are changing over the last two years. We just couldn't give prices an upgrade whereas it went back. It does go back to inventory or another one stop shop did put an exact price.
00:15:02:14 - 00:15:22:00
Unknown
As for that, on what it was going to cost to do the uplifts, yeah, they could take the same energy and bring it to a different one stop shop and get two more prices, three more prices. The same thing, for a with a with with your home energy assessment. We've, we've outlined that they've gone back to their one stop shop.
00:15:22:02 - 00:15:47:21
Unknown
They've been given a price and they've, they've agreed on, scope of works and the pricing from there. Then, your one stop shop gives you a project manager and the works are carried out. We come in, then at the end, we do a final b r now the final b r is an energy rating to make sure that all the works are outlined, are carried out.
00:15:47:24 - 00:16:28:02
Unknown
Yeah. We might also do an air leakage test. So applaud artist to, to make sure that if, air tightness grant was being claimed, which I think is 2000 doors, not just a one. Just let just a done. If that's been claimed, that's the leakage rate of the house has been reduced. Yeah. And our tests will tell that they similarly, if there's a mechanical ventilation system being installed, we, we then validate it to make sure that it's been designed correctly and commissioned and installed.
00:16:28:04 - 00:16:53:19
Unknown
As for the building regulations. So we validate that as a third party independent body, again, so as well as in the journey, we need to start with a for the game plan. And we go in at the end and we ensure that it's been followed. Yeah. Properly. Yeah. So you're basically the independent person who's you know, at, you know, looking at us to start giving advice to what the next steps are.
00:16:53:21 - 00:17:14:21
Unknown
The people are going to join you, and then you come in and you check and you're going in the independent check to make sure that the, the, the home is as energy efficient as it's supposed to be. Yeah. So it's a very safe way. It isn't a final. Yeah, absolutely. And and the other theater, aspects of that is the great thing about the er, deep software that's being used.
00:17:14:21 - 00:17:31:08
Unknown
I mean, there's a lot of bad things that you can mention about the system, but the one thing that's, there's a rigid result in that if you input, if you follow the roadmap exactly as it says, if it says you're going to get to an near to when you're finished, you'll get to an end to when you're finished.
00:17:31:10 - 00:17:54:02
Unknown
So it's not like and that's why it's very important for, for, one stop shops to have that information because they're, they're discounting the grants upfront. But it's just assured us that if one produces, like without getting into the technical sides, it's just a lot of a hit. Yeah. That homeowners won't be interested in, like detailed dwelling reports and black and white pages that no one has any interest.
00:17:54:02 - 00:18:19:20
Unknown
But yeah, yeah, it does go into detail about the, u-values. So if you follow that roadmap and put in exactly the u-values that have been recommended, then you can't achieve what they have said you're going to achieve. Yeah, yeah. Just monitor thing I mean with is and there's bars and I suppose we have to distinguish between the two bars is just a bar serves the rating on your home.
00:18:19:21 - 00:18:52:05
Unknown
Where is a home. Energy assessment is a suite of documents with a lot more information is which includes which I want to bring up is a technical assessment for your heat pump. So would you like to explain the HLA or heat loss indicator? I will leave that one off if you want. Okay. So your heat loss indicator, it's the see, I had come out with a way of ensuring that houses were at a standard where you could fit a heat pump and it would run efficiently.
00:18:52:07 - 00:19:19:14
Unknown
So if your house can't retain the heat, if there isn't enough insulation or if it's too leaky, or combination of board, they will not granted you, any amount of money for a heat pump. So you can do this, this heat pump technical assessment was designed by SCA. And if you're going to single measure and you just want to heat pump, we still have to come out as technical advisers.
00:19:19:16 - 00:19:38:01
Unknown
And they're taking a technical advisor role. Is is another step up higher from the PR assessor role. And you go out and it is a bit more in-depth because I know you did allude to they're about to be here and let people know and what they don't know. And there was a time where it wasn't as great as the industry.
00:19:38:03 - 00:19:59:03
Unknown
It has improved. SCA, you're far more stringent. No, there's a lot of auditing going on. The training course is it's a lot there's a lot more exams in it. There's projects. It's overall it's better. You know, we're we're at a good point. Your process or. No isn't, isn't the kind of way down the road is it.
00:19:59:06 - 00:20:14:24
Unknown
I did it back in 2008. So this is anyone in back then? Anyone? Anyone. You know what we're like. So let's just let's just focus on what you're saying there. So at the start, there was people coming out of world work saying that there will be. Or is that what you're saying? And they probably weren't as qualified or as educators they could have and should have been.
00:20:14:24 - 00:20:41:24
Unknown
It was nowadays that that is not the case. It's not here. Snow and it like that. It's it was the time in it was 2008, 2009. The crash had come. You know, you really competent people out there that bolted on to services that they were doing. They were architects. Their engineers do. Yeah. Carpenters, you know, you had a lot of people out there who were only there trying to survive.
00:20:42:02 - 00:21:09:06
Unknown
Yeah. And no more myself. I was my final year in construction management in LA, and I, it was an industry. I said, this looks like a really good industry to be in. Went off and did the course, but within 12 months maybe, I think there were 7000, trained, if not certified PR assessors. Okay. So like that it became a little bit flooded.
00:21:09:06 - 00:21:50:15
Unknown
It was a race to the bottom. But you look at the grid, the trend providers did great, but it was just too many people at the wrong time. Yeah. Jumping on board. Over the years, the architects went back to be next to, you know, engineers to to say, I mean, you what you have known was people who were really interested in doing energy efficient works, you know, being consultants towards that, this, this, I suppose, to, to journey to, towards 2030, you know, so the numbers are reduced to the, the courses are harder, the coursework is harder.
00:21:50:17 - 00:22:14:13
Unknown
We've moved from normal, app based software to cloud based software. So the minute I publish a, B or the, you can review it online and at that point in the like, if there was if there were serious errors, they'd be able to pick up on them without even calling an audit, you know. So the industry overall has improved no more than the construction industry.
00:22:14:15 - 00:22:36:24
Unknown
Yeah. Well, I think that period of time was, a period of time where, as you said, people were in survival mode. Gentleman walker droid up there was a lot of debt in the country. The people were literally trying to to make ends meet, and they were diversifying into different areas. This was this was a and I suppose an element of our industry that looked as though it would have some, you know, work in it.
00:22:36:24 - 00:22:52:20
Unknown
And then people jumped on board. But I do think that the whole thing is evolved. Like, even if you look at where we're at in terms of of the education and the knowledge that the everyday homeowner has back then in comparison to now, like back then, people didn't know what a heap was. You know, there was a lot of fear.
00:22:52:20 - 00:23:08:22
Unknown
There was a lot of, you know, people didn't even believe back then that, you know, that this would work out. It it would it would be a good investment. Whereas I think people realize now, because it's been tried and tested and all the rest of it on and then you've got, you know, you know, legitimate companies like yourself set up that, you know, are focused on doing this.
00:23:08:22 - 00:23:21:02
Unknown
You wake up in the morning, then you do this all day, every day. You're not, you know, doing it for an hour or so a week to just fill a gap or make a few extra quid, you know, that's it. And you can see it. You can see it with the various shorts that are on. Yeah. Throughout the year.
00:23:21:02 - 00:23:46:13
Unknown
The ideal homes, the self-insure, the energy. Sure. They're busy with people coming in who want to. They want the knowledge, you know, and they want the right people to give them the right the right knowledge and steer in the right direction, and they're in themselves. Whereas I give you an example, ten years ago, Ideal Homes or Self-Insure were one of them.
00:23:46:13 - 00:24:08:01
Unknown
Yeah. And where people come in and they knew that they were putting down an oak, solid oak floor, but they couldn't they didn't know, like putting in radiators or underfloor or we, you know what's mechanical ventilation. No, they're coming up and they're coming on to the stands and they're saying, well, I'm going with a fully recovery system and I want to make sure that it can do this and so on and so forth.
00:24:08:03 - 00:24:33:04
Unknown
And you're, you're you're nearly blown away and really impressed by how things have come on. Yeah. But the information is out there. No more than the television shows. No more than online information. Brilliant, brilliant podcasts, brilliant TV shows and podcasts. Yeah. And folks, it's all out there and it's in our homes. Know? And people are saying couples are sitting down and watching this stuff together and having a debate.
00:24:33:08 - 00:24:53:21
Unknown
Yeah. And so by the time they come to us, we're really on a fine tuning. Yeah. Their ideas and we're going them. Yeah. You're guiding them. They're already coming in formed. You're not trying to now starting from the from the bottom and. Yeah. Yeah I thought you found it very interesting that like, you know, we would have friends and it sounds my boy UBL desire to talk to you about their home.
00:24:53:21 - 00:25:10:14
Unknown
And, you know, if they've bought a new home or whatever, they're quite informed as to what they have and where they're trying to go with it. And I'll I'll tell you that I find it very interesting to beside actually to me and my mates are talking about the types of around the pool, you know, such as like we're at that age, I suppose it don't the time I used to really.
00:25:10:16 - 00:25:34:13
Unknown
I struggle to explain to people for a year for a living. They hadn't a clue. And when they are still struggling, they're like, yeah, but maybe, maybe not. After this podcast. But, no. If people's knowledge base is much higher and and far to better and look at it is it's out there, it's in the media, it's in the news every day.
00:25:34:13 - 00:25:55:19
Unknown
We're talking about it and it'll be had the big targets, I suppose we have 2030, which we're working towards, and retrofitting half a million houses and so many heap homes and so on. And we'd look at it if we are a bit away from achieving those targets. You've only five years left. Where I get better. As I get busy, I should look for center of space, which I interest.
00:25:55:22 - 00:26:23:17
Unknown
Yeah, you know what I think I really and I think the other thing, as well as, as I said, even my own friends are talking about now, I suppose people can turn incentivized by difficult as grants out there, but they're also incentivized by the fact the energy bills are so high now that if they can do something to reduce those bills, and if they can educate themselves a little bit to to help themselves make the right decisions, they're instantly more interested in it than they would have been previously.
00:26:23:17 - 00:26:41:06
Unknown
And what I mean, like when like again, just being honest when like your ESB bill was quite low, it didn't really matter. But cost of energy is so high now, and the fact that I suppose the technology in energy is, is in the news all the time as well. Talking about data centers taking on our power does all this type of stuff going on.
00:26:41:12 - 00:26:55:16
Unknown
So we do hear about it. And I suppose we all do have a bit of a fascination and an interest in it, you know? So therefore when you bring that down to your own front door and you know you're considering your own home, I think people do their interest in it. And it's, it's it's well worth informing yourself on that.
00:26:55:16 - 00:27:21:17
Unknown
And that's exactly what I suppose your home energy assessment is. It's actually the truth of all of that pull together onto one document in a summer release version, which allows you then, make your decisions, you know, and it is that like the, the suite of documents that we have to produce and calculations to go on in the background to produce exactly what you want to it, which is the right thing to do for that, to meet that grant.
00:27:21:17 - 00:27:42:14
Unknown
And so anyone step 12 can price this against that. Yeah, they're all important. But it is one page summary of a colored road map which dates the what kind of an impact each measure makes. And it is it's to try and simplify it for all of us, because nobody wants to be going. You're not going home or not.
00:27:42:15 - 00:28:18:06
Unknown
We're not doing another, degree to figure out where we're at with this. And I suppose we've gone a bit around in a circle. But to go back to the, the HLA, the heap, technical assessment, it is another boring document to to look at it from the outside. But what it is, is it, it's an overview to say if you upgrade your house, if you pump your walls, if you do your windows, your doors, or whatever measures it may be, will your house reach this target set open for them to be able to say, okay, the the house will retain the heat?
00:28:18:08 - 00:28:39:00
Unknown
You can now go and put in a heat pump. And it is because the heat pump works differently tonight. The boiler, the oil, the oil boiler, the gas boiler, the the older heating systems, they were a high temperature flicker switch. Turn it on. Get heat into the house. Yeah. When that heats disappears again you do the same again.
00:28:39:00 - 00:29:02:23
Unknown
Oh again. Yet whereas the heat pump it's a Welsh. It's a lower temperature system. The lower the temperature you can run that. And that's not air temperature I suppose that's temperature between inside and outside the lower to temperature you can run that. The more efficient the Sam system is. So you want to host, it's going to be that has a relatively good fabric, that will maintain the heat that you put into it.
00:29:03:02 - 00:29:36:00
Unknown
Yeah. And that he from Technical Assessment is designed exactly for that. So, your host, if it was it's 20 years old. It didn't need when we got there, you had done some works already. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Okay. So I suppose just to give people a bit of information, when I built my home, I. I suppose I was aware of the whole, value of, of putting insulation into your home because, again, like 25 years ago, 20 years ago, people didn't care about ventilation.
00:29:36:05 - 00:29:53:06
Unknown
It was way down the pecking order. It was. And it took a long time to come up. So I suppose I was a bit early in the process, and I understood that putting, you know, more insulation in than what was the regulations will be worthwhile investment. So I did that. Even I built a washer within two years of my building that the regulations changed.
00:29:53:06 - 00:30:13:23
Unknown
And what I had insulated my home to was below the regulations. So all you had Dan gone in and I put more insulation in again. In, in, into the attic and into some areas as well. So I was delighted to get the approval from your cell phone when you said, oh, you've gone above and beyond from, from what the house was originally, you know, and I suppose that was just based off my own knowledge.
00:30:13:23 - 00:30:37:06
Unknown
But when we got the documents from yourself, it made the decision because we did it with an oil boiler when we were changing, you know, considering changing to an air to water heat pump. And your document basically made it a no brainer that you're a true general and that that's it. I suppose we will go out to the house and if if you're they've set this threshold as 2.3 now, it doesn't matter really what the units are for, for conversation we're having today.
00:30:37:08 - 00:30:57:24
Unknown
What 2.3 if you're above that your heat loss is the rate of heat loss is two two fast. So we wouldn't be able to say that you'd be eligible for the heating grid. Whereas if you hadn't done your any insulation works, you probably would have been at 2.5, 2.6. Right? You would insulated it. You were down that bit lower.
00:30:58:01 - 00:31:12:09
Unknown
I think you were below two. Yeah. Just about. Yeah. Which would look a good position. No, the Heat Pump Association will say it, he continued, unofficially up to three. Yeah. See, I have to make sure that they're covering all bases in it to set.
00:31:12:11 - 00:31:38:13
Unknown
A little bit lower. Which is, which is on the right. They're protecting they're protecting the hypermarket, and ensuring that, you know, I think that that you're not getting people saying, well, I put internet tape on Grant and it's not working. Yeah. So just just to simplify that. Sorry. So basically what we're saying there is the heat loss indicator is obviously letting you know how quickly our house will lose the heat that is generated within it.
00:31:38:15 - 00:31:54:20
Unknown
And if it's if it's if it's losing the heat too quickly, therefore it's a little bit it therefore becomes counterproductive to put in a heat pump. And when your assessment is done, you know, gives you the indicators to tell you if it's if the house is suitable or not for a heat pump. And thankfully ours, ours was. So if you were on it.
00:31:54:21 - 00:32:25:06
Unknown
No, I was I was just going to mention that there is, a pilot scheme running by AC. I at the minute. It's a heat loss indicator playlist. So it's for homes that are above 2.3 and below three, you can go to Trina. That's just in the pilot scheme, but that's an in an effort to show there's maybe heat pumps and it shouldn't be restricted back to 2.3, maybe 2.67 weight and run as efficiently as 2.3 post.
00:32:25:06 - 00:32:44:01
Unknown
It might save you put on exterior wall insulation which is expensive. So suppose what they're trying to do is reduce the costs of everything outside of installing people. It's not just as simple as installing a heat pump. So, you know, it's not like a swap house. You might have to do some works. Yeah, yeah. So it's trying to reduce those works.
00:32:44:03 - 00:32:52:20
Unknown
And just to mention that there is a pilot scheme for anyone that own puts down above to 2.3.
00:32:52:22 - 00:33:18:23
Unknown
We always get to blame. Rightly so. That raises so it's like, the air leakage test, you go in and it's slightly failing and you say, but these five points, if you were to if you were to target these absorbers or windows, improve this. Yeah. Why did you feel it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, in the long run, you're, you're trying to, you're trying to deal with everyday roofer the, the, the the air tightness of the house.
00:33:19:04 - 00:33:37:11
Unknown
I'm not failing you. I'm informing. Yeah. You're I have. Yeah, yeah. So just I suppose industry in general, you're out there, you know, doing this on a day to day basis. It's a busy industry, but would you say it's gone into a bit of a transition at the moment with, I suppose, the, the geopolitical stuff that's happening?
00:33:37:13 - 00:33:58:19
Unknown
And are we going to see a big burst coming soon? You mentioned the targets earlier on that we've, you know, we have to meet as a, as a country in in 2020. What's your thoughts on holding on a look I would love to see the big burst. I would love to see see a improve grants and make them larger.
00:33:58:21 - 00:34:47:06
Unknown
You know, bring more people, I suppose. Make it make it more affordable for everybody. And, and I suppose they have done in different ways. And there are, you know, we have your warmer home scheme. They're busy out there doing single measures and for, for people, in receipt of certain payments. I would love to see, I, we talk about the middle schools, you know, something some bit of an incentive out there for your your everyday family or working hard, paying taxes, you know, to try and, I don't know, somewhere bring in some form of a grant that you can take straight out of, or where Japan to European or Saudi
00:34:47:06 - 00:35:15:21
Unknown
or something like that, you know. Yeah. Will it ever happen? I don't know, yeah. Well, there's no point in us saying if you're going to improve grants after 2026, we have no idea what's going to. Yeah. Well, let's say, you know, What the. We're getting closer and closer to 20, 30. I do believe, like a lot of the old stuff shops now have built really, well-run businesses who are capable of taking on this work.
00:35:15:23 - 00:35:40:07
Unknown
Contractors are out there to expand, and everybody's waiting for us, you know, And no more than ourselves. We're gearing up, and hopefully there's going to be the second part of this decade. It's going to be really busy, open forum and people, you know, talking to people, doing chores, making sure people are getting the right information.
00:35:40:09 - 00:36:08:00
Unknown
And like that, I think, I think we're well on our way, which we're talking Norfolk. I think the energy industry is still a very small industry. It's growing us. It is a very small industry. I know you'd have a keen interest in apprenticeships and. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Trying to get people into into that thought process of, of I think that's be our course.
00:36:08:02 - 00:36:39:17
Unknown
It's brilliant for anyone to do if you're interested in the energy industry, it's, it's, an introduction. It's a very good, foundation for anyone that's looking to do anything in, in energy efficiency. I think it covers kind of all the bases business. It does. It, it is, it's it's fine and broad. You talk about insulation, you talk about air tightness, you talk about, terminal bridge bridging, you know, local and too in-depth into, you know, you're talking about terminal mass of different products.
00:36:39:20 - 00:37:11:10
Unknown
Yeah. So it is know like that if 12 employees, and unfortunately, you don't find PR assessors looking to come and work for us, you find, engineers, people with degrees in pretty much energy engineering, construction backgrounds, but have a keen interest in the energy sector. Yeah. So they have a degree to coming in, and they're probably fairly well rounded in their backgrounds anyway.
00:37:11:12 - 00:37:37:20
Unknown
But it's it's nearly and I know, the whole internship thing was tarnished a few years ago in Ireland, but it is nearly an internship. It's six months from the day someone starts with their selves to between can hands on experience when shadowing another assessor, a senior assessor, as well as training and going onto what did he say approved courses which has to be done as well.
00:37:37:22 - 00:38:04:11
Unknown
It's it's definitely six months before you could confidently say they could even think about going out, doing a simple PR. Yeah, yeah. You know, because and there's so many different types of construction out there, so many years of construction. Yeah, different types of heating systems, you know, insulation utilities, everything. So until you've done a couple of hundred years, you're not experienced and you definitely haven't seen it all.
00:38:04:13 - 00:38:28:02
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah. If I go so kind of towards the end of the, the interview, what's your final advice to someone who's listening here today on what would you say them. Yeah. Okay. Suppose, a lot of people, when they first meet, I said, I've been mean to do this for years. Yeah, yeah. I think now is the time to meet with one of the one stop shops.
00:38:28:04 - 00:38:48:00
Unknown
Get the 350 or Grant, get all the session or, assessment done. And from there, then, as you said, you don't have to do the work for people once once you have the right advice. You can do it piecemeal over, over the few years, but at least you know where you're at, where you stand. Yeah, yeah.
00:38:48:00 - 00:39:13:11
Unknown
And eating that effort, I just it's important that that, energy assessment is transferable so people can price around I think just 24 registered one stop shop. So, so obviously that's, going to benefit the, the competition. It's important that they're transferable so that you can price around. And I'd advise even though I'm working for a one stop shop, I'd advise people to price around.
00:39:13:13 - 00:39:32:04
Unknown
It's just, you wouldn't you care to come into a few garages? Which. Yeah, absolutely. I know. Look, again, as I said earlier. Oh, you got it on. And, you know, I am extremely knowledgeable in construction and I, you know, could very easily went and I don't need to get that done or whatever. I needed to get it done to get to the application for the, the grant because of the age of my home.
00:39:32:04 - 00:39:48:03
Unknown
But at the same time, I was actually really happy that I got it done. I was very impressed with it. It was a very simple process. And again, the thing that I was most impressed with it was that I did summarization at the end, you know, made it very understandable, very user friendly, and it was very clearly marked out.
00:39:48:03 - 00:40:05:19
Unknown
So I'd highly recommend anybody, who was considering getting any rich retrofit on, even if they're just considering that are taking a build. Definitely take that step. Obviously if you do it through, One-Stop shop, you get your grant available as well. I keep on saying this, the grants won't last forever. When the money is there, definitely try and get it done.
00:40:05:21 - 00:40:22:11
Unknown
And again, you're done giving you a roadmap to to make your next step. So I think it's a no brainer for everybody. And I would highly recommend that everyone get it done on. Tell us where people can reach out to you, give give you your company and show up there. So it's EMG Energy Consultants and the website is EMG energy.
00:40:22:12 - 00:40:42:15
Unknown
Derry I love it. So any questions that you have for own, you can send them in in the comments. Or you can go straight to Owen, of course. And Frank, he's big on Instagram at the museum there. Gary Lowe's Instagram. You met Dermot Bannon the other day. He was fanboy and damn about them. By the way, they keep showing that video that we show in this video now.
00:40:42:16 - 00:40:57:06
Unknown
Yeah we do, because here is, cool. So thanks again folks, for tuning into the Behind the World podcast. Reach out to us, ask the questions, and follow and like and share over and out.
00:40:57:08 - 00:40:59:09
Unknown
Oh! Oh!