Mind the Energy Performance Gap: testing the accuracy of building Energy Performance Certificates in Ireland

Ireland’s Climate Action Plan aims upgrade 500,000 homes to B2 Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) standard by 2030. Evidence of an Energy Performance Gap, where actual energy use differs from the EPC, could undermine progress towards such targets. This paper studies the energy performance gap for a general housing sample (n = 9923) over multiple years. It provides a novel comparison between whole-home energy use (electricity and gas) that accounts for fuel switching and removes potential rebound effects by excluding households that may have changed their behaviour following a retrofit. Results suggest that actual energy use is unresponsive to the EPC, with a range of 457 kWh/year observed across EPC-level averages for the entire sample. This difference equated to less than 5% of the sample average annual energy use observed. The Energy Performance Gap range features an average deficit of 17% below theoretical energy use. The least energy efficient dwellings feature an average difference ranging from − 15 to − 56% of the relevant EPC. Conversely, energy efficient houses display higher-than-theoretical energy use, with average surpluses ranging from 39 to 54% of the relevant EPC. Results sound a note of caution for policymakers that rely on a theoretical EPC to deliver real energy savings. Future EPCs could be improved by incorporating historical household energy usage to help improve models.