The inclusion in the Irish Government’s Budget for 2010 of the ‘Save as You Pay’ green financing model has been hailed as a visionary decision by the campaigner who introduced the idea.“Save as You Pay (SAYP) could enable us to energy upgrade virtually every building in Ireland over the next decade, so it is exactly the sort of policy that could help lift us out of recession,” said Jeff Colley, Editor of green building magazine Construct Ireland.
SAYP will enable cash-strapped homeowners and businesses to pay for energy saving measures through fixed repayments on their energy bills over several years.
According to Mr. Colley: “We introduced the idea of paying for energy upgrade work through utility bills over the summer because many people do not have access to savings or credit to get the work done. It was a question of right policy, right place, right time.”
Colley’s campaigning efforts resulted in SAYP being included in the renewed Programme for Government and the Institute of European Affairs Greenprint for a National Energy Efficiency Retrofit Programme. He noted: “We have been blown away by the level of public demand for this approach”.
80 per cent of Irish homeowners responding to a Construct Ireland/Amárach Research survey in August said they would be interested in paying for energy upgrade work through their utility bills. 58 per cent of homeowners said they did not have enough money saved to upgrade their home.
“If the majority of Irish homeowners can’t access the money to pay for energy upgrade work, a grant alone will be of limited use,” Colley said. “Even with a grant covering 30 per cent of the cost of a typical upgrade, we have to help people to find the remainder, be it through payments on their energy bills or by adding it to their mortgage”, stated Mr. Colley.
The response from utilities has already been encouraging, with Bord Gáis announcing plans in October to introduce a major energy efficiency home services initiative in 2010, which will offer homeowners a full-scale energy efficiency service with a range of separate products and services through an on-bill finance.
“Save as You Pay can become a major driver in Ireland’s economic recovery,” said Colley. “It will create jobs, reduce our 6bn euro energy import bill, dramatically cut our carbon emissions, and enable all Irish people to have comfortable, healthy homes”, concluded Mr. Colley.
IMAGE: Jeff Colley, Editor, Construct Ireland. Pic by David Ruffles
