Coming soon - Better Retrofits, Together

Better Retrofits, Together is a free, community-led service that helps you and your neighbours navigate home energy upgrades together, through a Buying Club model – from your first expression of interest right through to signing with an SEAI-registered contractor.

A buying club is how we bring your interest together with your neighbours’, so we can approach SEAI-registered contractors with real, collective demand – instead of everyone navigating this alone. This gives contractors better-quality leads and gives you transparent, indicative pricing.

Better Retrofits, Together is currently being piloted in the following nine neighbourhoods within the Greater Dublin Area, in partnership with SEAI and local Sustainable Energy Communities:

• Laytown / Bettystown
• Balbriggan
• Skerries
• Cabra / Phibsboro
• Ringsend / Sandymount
• Clondalkin 
• Dún Laoghaire / Blackrock
• Greystones / Delgany

No. Registering your interest and attending the Educated Buyer workshops are both completely free. The only money that ever changes hands is between you and the chosen contractor and only if you decide to go ahead. The Buying Club is delivered by Dublin’s not-for-profit energy agency Codema in partnership with the Sustainable Energy Authority Of Ireland (SEAI) and we never take commission.

Not at the moment, unfortunately. We’re currently in the pilot phase but we do hope to expand into other communities across the Greater Dublin Area over time.

Not at all. That said, if you’d like to join your local SEC as well, we’d be happy to put you in touch with them.

No. Filling out the Expression of Interest form is free and commits you to nothing. It simply tells us that you’re interested and it helps us find out what you and your neighbours’ homes need.

Yes. You’re free to step away at any point before signing a contract with a contractor, with no penalty at all.

Not at all. You choose what’s right for you – from a single measure like attic insulation or solar panels, right up to a full deep retrofit. It’s fully flexible to best suit your home and budget.

That’s fine. The Buying Club runs on a rolling six-month cycle, so there’s always a next opportunity to join when the time is right for you.

Better Retrofits, Together is delivered by Codema, Dublin’s not-for-profit energy agency in partnership with the Sustainable Energy Authority Of Ireland (SEAI) and your local Sustainable Energy Community. It’s independent and free from any commercial interest in which contractor you choose.

It’s a contractor who has met SEAI’s standards to carry out grant-supported energy upgrade works. All contractors put forward through the Buying Club are SEAI-registered.

Codema will approach SEAI-registered contractors participating in the Buying Club process with anonymised information on the group of interested homes and ask them to provide indicative pricing and details of any group benefits they can offer.

While cost may factor into the overall value some groups experience, it isn’t something we can promise as an outcome of the service. The real benefit of the group approach lies elsewhere – it gives you the opportunity to go through the retrofit process alongside your neighbours and it builds your confidence and understanding of what’s involved along the way.

The Buying Club will rely on the existing SEAI quality assurance process that already applies to grant-supported works. Any warranties or guarantees relating to the work will also sit with the contractor under the homeowner’s contract.

Before you sign a contract, you’re free to step away from the Buying Club at any time. If you go ahead with the work, the chosen contractor is responsible for delivering the work agreed with you and addressing anything that arises under your contract. Codema, your SEC and SEC mentor will continue to help you understand the process and direct you to the appropriate support if needed.

If you qualify for SEAI’s Warmer Homes Scheme, we recommend applying through that scheme first, as it can provide fully-funded energy upgrades based on an assessment of your home. Your SEC and SEC mentor can help you understand the application process but SEAI will assess your home and determine which measures are provided.

SEAI guidance states that homeowners on qualifying welfare payments can use the higher individual grants for attic insulation and cavity wall insulation without losing their place on the Warmer Homes Scheme waiting list for other eligible upgrades.

If you are considering other measures through the Buying Club while waiting (such as solar PV) you will need to confirm with SEAI whether your Warmer Homes application could be affected by this.

Your details are used by Codema to understand what your home needs and to group similar homes together for the Buying Club. During the contractor comparison stage, information shared with contractors will be anonymised so they cannot identify individual homeowners.

Once a contractor has been selected, your contact details and relevant property information can be shared with that contractor, with your consent, so they can engage with you directly. Your contract is then directly between you and your chosen contractor.

This is a brand-new, first-of-its-kind pilot. By joining early, you’re helping shape how it works for every community that follows. As with any new pilot, we’re learning and improving the process as we go and we appreciate your feedback along the way.