Codema to accompany Lord Mayor of Dublin at European Ceremony as she presents Dublin's plan to become Energy-Smart
Dublin is leading the way in cutting its carbon emissions and is on track to becoming one of Europe’s first energy-smart cities. That’s the message that the Lord Mayor of Dublin will send out at a major European ceremony which will be opened by President of the EU Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, and will be attended by 1,000 city leaders worldwide.
Lord Mayor, Cllr Emer Costello, has been invited to address the Covenant of Mayors Ceremony in Brussels on 4th May, where she will outline how Dublin is leading the way with projects such as the world’s first carbon neutral convention centre, a wholly sustainable urban park and an innovative clustering scheme for homeowners to join together to retrofit their houses.
Dublin city signed up to the Covenant of Mayors last year, which is a commitment by signatory towns and cities to go beyond the EU targets for a reduction in carbon emissions. However, Dublin city is already ploughing ahead by working with Codema to achieve a reduction of 33 per cent by 2020.
“We are extremely proud of Dublin’s involvement in the Covenant of Mayors and of our solid commitment to make Dublin an energy-smart city over the next 10 to 20 years. Our long-term vision for the city is one of smart buildings complemented by smart behaviour,” the Lord Mayor said.
Local authorities in Dublin will also increase their use of renewable energy. For example, Dublin City Council is producing renewable electricity locally at Fr Collins Park, which opened as Ireland’s first wholly sustainable urban park last year. Five 50 kilowatt wind turbines provide electricity for the park’s sport facilities, public lighting and water aeration, bringing the portion of renewable energy for the Council’s own use to 19 per cent.
The Lord Mayor also highlighted how Codema has recently worked with Dublin City Council in developing a Sustainable Energy Action Plan which shows how over the next twenty years, the introduction of carbon neutral and low-energy buildings, improvements in information technology and the development of a low-carbon transport system could lead to the city reducing its carbon emissions by 50 per cent.
Director of Codema and principal author of the Action Plan, Gerry Wardell, will accompany the Lord Mayor at the Ceremony. Mr Wardell pointed how retrofitting of the Dublin housing market presents one of the biggest opportunities for CO₂ reduction in the capital: “The Action Plan shows how over €1billion in energy savings can be achieved by Dublin homes up to 2020,” he said. “However, a further €600 million can be saved by Dubliners changing their attitude towards energy-saving in the home, so really the citizens of this city have a huge role to play in determining the amount of energy that we can save.”
The Lord Mayor also noted how improvements in residential energy usage will not only make the city more environmentally-friendly but could allow for significant job creation. “We could retain and up-skill people in the whole area of upgrading and insulating buildings. It could have a big impact on employment in that sector.”
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