{"id":7892,"date":"2026-05-18T10:04:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T10:04:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.finulent.com\/insights\/?p=7892"},"modified":"2026-05-18T10:04:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T10:04:25","slug":"how-finulent-helps-promote-smarter-buildings-in-ireland-through-ber-ratings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.finulent.com\/insights\/our-blog\/how-finulent-helps-promote-smarter-buildings-in-ireland-through-ber-ratings\/","title":{"rendered":"How Finulent Helps Promote Smarter Buildings in Ireland Through BER Ratings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you have ever sold, purchased, or rented out a home in Ireland, you may have heard of the BER. But do you know what it is and how it is one of the most important figures when it comes to estate matters in 2026?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About BER<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A Building Energy Rating<\/a> (BER) is a certificate that rates how energy efficient a property is. It is the same for buildings as the fuel efficiency label for your car. It measures how much energy is needed to heat a home, supply hot water, move the air around, and supply lighting and then grades the energy efficiency of the home with a letter. The lower the requirements, the better the rating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ratings run from A1 (best) to G (worst), and until 24 May 2026, there are 15 sub-grades. After that, with the introduction of new EU regulations under the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), there will only be eight grades: A0, A, B, C, D, E, F and G<\/a>. The largest scale will be A0, which is reserved for zero-carbon homes that don’t use fossil fuels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All BERs are issued by an SEAI-accredited BER assessor and are valid for 10 years (unless energy efficiency upgrades are undertaken).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Existing vs New<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Existing construction <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All properties in Ireland must have a valid Building Energy Rating (BER) when they are sold or rented. In particular, in the south of Ireland, where many houses were built before the introduction of current building insulation standards, obtaining a BER is a way to start to see the opportunities for an upgrade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it makes economic sense. Homes rated \u201cA\u201d sell for 10-15% more than comparable homes. An ESRI report puts this figure at 1-2% for each letter grade, so a home selling for \u20ac400,000 with a D rating could sell for up to 10-15% higher, \u20ac416,000-\u20ac432,000, with a rating of B. Higher ratings also qualify for green mortgages from Irish banks, with lower rates for B and above. These mortgages are loans for houses that are energy efficient and generally have reduced or lower interest rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the ratings game is changing, it’s no longer about the sticker for sale. Homeowners want their homes warmer, cleaner, and cheaper to run. A good BER no longer just means that the house has got a sticker to put on the door, it means that the house will be good to live in.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New builds are a 2-stage BER system.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New builds have a special deal. Since it’s not built, the first BER is a virtual or computer BER, based on plans, specifications, and systems. It’s called the Provisional BER, and it’s valid for two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once it’s built, an on-site visit is needed for the final, official 10-year BER. Since 2021, Ireland’s new homes have all had an A2 rating in accordance with NZEB (Nearly Zero Energy Building) certification, which typically includes high levels of insulation, a heat pump, and often PV solar panels. The CSO reports that nearly all new homes built between 2020 and 2025 had a rating of A.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ireland’s 2030 Retrofit Target and Its Supply Problem<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Ireland is set to retrofit 500,000 homes to B2 by 2030. That’s 75,000 homes per year. The grants are (mostly) in place. The political will is there. But the industry is faced with a problem with time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It takes two hours for an average BER assessor to measure and take photos of one house. So that’s at most three properties per day. Once they return to their office, there’s data and grading reports and advice reports to be generated using DEAP (Dwelling Energy Assessment Procedure), which potentially reduces the time they could spend on the next house.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A better process, backroom support, and a focus on removing barriers are going to be key to achieving Ireland’s 2030 targets. That\u2019s where Finulent comes in. We support BER assessors in the preparation stage by structuring the survey information and preparing the input data so it\u2019s ready for DEAP entry and review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The homes are there. The assessors are ready. We just need to hurry up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you have ever sold, purchased, or rented out a home in Ireland, you may have heard of the BER. But do you know what it is and how it is one of the most important figures when it comes to estate matters in 2026? About BER A Building Energy Rating (BER) is a certificate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":7893,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[178,180,49,32,149,179],"class_list":["post-7892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-our-blog","tag-ber","tag-ber-assessor","tag-blog","tag-energy-efficiency","tag-ireland","tag-seai"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.finulent.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.finulent.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.finulent.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.finulent.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.finulent.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7892"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.finulent.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7894,"href":"https:\/\/www.finulent.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7892\/revisions\/7894"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.finulent.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.finulent.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.finulent.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.finulent.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}