Ireland’s national climate policy and legislation is currently being guided by the Climate Action Plan, a government strategy to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and a 51% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Key measures include increasing the share of electricity generated from renewable sources to 80% by 2030, decarbonising public buildings, promoting electric vehicle uptake, and investing in sustainable transport.
Máirtín Ó Méalóid, General Manager at EcoVision - one of the 10 enablers of the Support Service for Citizen-led Renovation (CLR), tells us how this political momentum can foster both the development of citizen-led renovation ecosystems.
How is the state of the art of building renovation in Ireland?
The Irish retrofit landscape is currently dominated by SEAI-approved One Stop Shops, most of which are commercial entities. These models normally lack community ownership, democratic governance, or local embeddedness, elements considered core to the CLR approach.
In this context, EcoVision represents a pioneering alternative: a trusted, community-based actor already working on the ground to support locally-driven renovation activity in rural and underserved areas, where citizen trust, peer support, and local capacity-building are key enablers of uptake.
What’s the core purpose of Ecovision?
EcoVision is a non-profit organisation in Ireland that provides a one-stop shop for energy upgrades and retrofitting for homeowners, businesses, and communities in the mid-west of Ireland. It helps citizens with energy upgrades, such as heating and ventilation, by managing projects from start to finish, securing grants, sourcing contractors, and overseeing the entire process to tackle energy poverty and reduce carbon emissions.
Our main objective is the long-term social transformation of member communities by carrying out energy conservation and generation projects, both large-scale and micro, using community development processes. This approach aims to foster member capacity, create local investment and employment, and achieve regional energy self-sufficiency.
Which challenges do your communities need to tackle?
In the context of the CLR III initiative, we will work with three communities.
Galway Energy Cooperative (GEC) is community-led, member-owned cooperative formed in 2018 with the mission to democratise the clean energy transition within Galway City and the surrounding areas. The cooperative involves citizens through public outreach, participatory project development, and its Warm Home Hub service, which provides free, impartial advice. GEC strives to move from an early-stage community group to a fully operational citizen-led renovation service, as well as providing other services. They need to build technical and organisational capacity, support vulnerable households in a high-deprivation area, and help residents overcome financial and administrative barriers to retrofitting, as well as provide advice on the coordination of multi-home renovation projects and navigating complex grant and funding schemes.
More specifically, under CLR III, they aim to support the coordinated retrofit of at least 10 homes in the Westside area of Galway and surrounding areas, with real potential to scale in future phases. The renovation measures will focus on building fabric upgrades, such as insulation, window and door replacement, and ventilation improvements, in line with SEAI Community Energy Grant requirements.
Kantoher Development Group (KDG) is a well-established, citizen-led community organisation based in West Limerick, with a strong track record in driving local economic and social development. Recognising the potential of energy efficiency as a catalyst for rural regeneration, the group has prioritised sustainable job creation through upskilling and community training initiatives.
KDG needs to build the capacity and skills required to activate the community and support homeowners through the retrofit process. They face challenges linked to rural depopulation, limited knowledge about renovation options, and the need to assist vulnerable and low-income households. They must also address unused and derelict buildings, navigate funding and grant processes, and develop the technical expertise to manage energy audits, engage contractors, and guide citizens through home upgrades.
Under CLR III, KDG’s board will oversee renovation activities, aiming to attract and retain businesses within the region, creating job opportunities for residents. KDG has identified unused and derelict buildings suitable for refurbishment, and with the support of CLR Enablers—through energy audits and training on financing retrofits—it will accelerate upgrades on at least 10 buildings and enhance its ability to help homeowners access wider renovation schemes.
Finally, Killeedy Community Housing Association (KCHA) is a citizen-led organisation created to respond to local housing needs and support the rural regeneration of two villages affected by a significant decline in population.
Their challenges include planning and developing new housing, retrofitting vacated homes, and incorporating sustainable building measures. They must also support elderly and vulnerable residents, improve energy literacy, and manage the technical, financial, and organisational demands of renovating multiple properties while maintaining strong community-led governance.
KCHA is developing up to 12 age-friendly homes on a three-acre site in Killeedy Village, enabling older residents to downsize and freeing up family homes for retrofit and reuse. The project will also assess options for renewable energy and natural wastewater systems, offering a community-driven model for rural regeneration.
Why do you think citizen-led renovation initiatives are important in your local context?
Citizen-led renovation initiatives address gaps that commercial retrofit models cannot fill. Many communities, especially in rural and underserved areas, need trusted, locally rooted organisations to guide them through renovation, build confidence, and support vulnerable households who fall through the cracks of existing grant schemes. Additionally, they strengthen community capacity, empower citizens through democratic governance, and help tackle issues like energy poverty, depopulation, and derelict housing. Overall, they ensure the energy transition is fair, inclusive, and shaped by the communities it affects.
What are your expectations from CLR III?
We see this opportunity as a strategic means to scale up citizen-led renovation in the West and Mid-Southwest, transforming scattered efforts into impactful, district-level retrofits. Our approach builds community capacity and supports the creation of long-term, self-sustaining CLR collectives rooted in democratic participation. To fully realise this potential, structured national and EU-level support is required, especially for facilitation, capacity-building, and connecting emerging collectives to technical and financial tools. Ireland’s current policy momentum makes this a timely and fertile context to embed and mainstream the CLR model. EcoVision is ready to help lead this shift, supporting both the emergence and the maturation of citizen-led renovation ecosystems
Details
- Publication date
- 3 December 2025
- Author
- Directorate-General for Energy