Before a BER upgrade: where does the money go?

Describe an example building. See which upgrade measures it would need, in the order they are usually done, and roughly what each tends to cost.

Worked example · about 2 minutes

What it does

Lists the energy upgrades an example building would typically need, in the order they are usually done, with a rough cost range for each.

What you need

The floor area, plus what the walls, windows, roof, heating and lighting are like now.

What you get

A rough low-to-high budget, a picture of where the money goes, and why the order of the work matters.

What it is not

Not a quote, not a BER rating and not a design. Real costs need a survey and a quantity surveyor.

Read this first

This is a teaching example. It works on an example building and uses rules of thumb and published averages, so its answers are rough guides, not advice. It is not a design, a survey, a quote or a valuation. Before you act on anything about a real building, ask a qualified engineer who has seen it.

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Why the order matters

Fabric first: insulate and glaze, then size the heat pump to the smaller heat loss that is left. Do it the other way round and the heat pump is bigger, dearer and runs less efficiently for its whole life.

Often wrong: treating a screening range as a price. These ranges are rules of thumb from experience, shown so you can see where the money tends to go. A real price needs a survey and a quantity surveyor.

About this worked example

Words used here

BER: Building Energy Rating: the A-to-G energy label every Irish building needs when it is sold or let.
Fabric: The shell of the building: walls, roof, floor and windows. Insulating it cuts how much heat is needed.
Building services: The systems inside: heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting and controls.
Fabric first: Insulate before replacing the heating, so the new system can be smaller and cheaper to run.
Rule of thumb: A typical figure from experience, useful for a first look but never a price for a real building.

What it does not do

It does not predict a BER grade. Only a registered BER assessor can produce a rating.
The cost ranges are rules of thumb, not quotes, and are not adjusted for location, access or today’s prices.
It does not include grants. Check SEAI’s current schemes directly.
It is not design advice. Real measures need a survey and a design team.

Learn how energy upgrades are planned

DC-LEARN Module 004 teaches how energy use is measured, where it goes and what can be done about it, applied to an Irish building.

See Module 004