To meet the Irish Government’s EU commitments to achieve targets for energy efficiency and reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, the Department of Education together with Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland SEAI, established a series of ‘Pathfinder’ projects which are designed to identify the most effective methods of achieving the targets in school buildings, with a view to rolling out a programme for upgrading all school buildings in subsequent years. The energy upgrade project at St Lazerian’s which is a special school proposed a major overhaul of the heating and lighting systems in the school together with significant improvements to the external fabric of the buildings to improve the insulation of same. The project entailed a thorough examination of the existing building fabric and services installations and a comprehensive review of multiple options for upgrading each of the elements, followed by detailed analysis to identify the most effective and economic means of upgrading the buildings to the required standard. 

St Lazerians Special School was constructed in three main stages, the original school being developed in the 1970’s, followed by a significant classroom extension in the 1990’s and lastly a major extension in 2008.  A small extension was completed in 2022 but this was excluded from the energy upgrade project being bult to modern standards. Generally speaking the older the building the lower the quality of the building due to the level of regulatory standards that applied at that time and the Energy Upgrade works proposed were therefore more extensive for the 1970’s buildings than for say the 2008 building, although the project included the upgrade of the heating and lighting systems generally, installing Heat Pump technology heat recovery systems as well as LED lighting.  Whilst the 2008 building was largely retained with minor adjustments to improve the roof and air tightness, the older building envelopes were extensively upgraded with remodelled facades and roofs achieving a much improved insulation values as well as addressing some of the technical defects that have manifested over the years. The result provides the School with a new lease of life providing a warm, efficient and economic building more able to meet the demands of climate change in the coming years.