On the way to energy
resilience, in Tipperary
One of Ireland’s oldest, most traditional rural counties has now become a benchmark for energy efficiency
Photo by
Alessandro Gandolfi
One of Ireland’s oldest, most traditional rural counties has now become a benchmark for energy efficiency, but how did it happen? Citizens in County Tipperary, driven by necessity and helped by government and European incentives, have independently begun to take charge of their own energy management, becoming architects of their own present and future. This is how, in a nutshell, the Energy Communities Tipperary Cooperative (ECTC) was established one decade ago, bringing together the best first experiences and becoming an accelerator for retrofitting and energy efficiency interventions, for private homes and public buildings, including churches and community centers.
Among hilly roads, breathtaking landscapes, unexpected wind farms and a countryside that harmonizes with the incomparable Irish sky, there are endless examples of how innovation and a better undertstanding and use of energy can have a positive impact on the lives of families and villages, in a model that in these months is getting even more solid and has also attracted the attention of other areas, both neighboring and beyond.
This work is part of a project on the eco-efficiency of housing carried out in collaboration with the European Climate Foundation.
(2023)