One of my proudest accomplishments to date is the building of the first certified A-rated (super energy efficient) house in Ireland. I had just given up a well paying job in a multi-national blue chip. It was slap bang in the middle of the Celtic Tiger years (2002-2007). I had returned home to my roots in rural north Cork. I was helping my dad to realise a vision he had for the (very small) village that he lived in. That vision was to grow the village of Castlemagner into a sustainable vibrant community. I took on the role of building out almost 100 houses in this quaint village that he had secured planning permission for.
Once I was familiar with the task in hand it became apparent to me that the construction industry as was delivering a very poor product to the people it served. This reasons for this are diverse but can be distilled down to lax inspection, poor regulations/standards and a powerful lobby group. I was somewhat disillusioned with this state of affairs but then something really interesting happened.
Around this time oil was over $100 per barrell. While the issue of global warming and CO2 levels was prevalent at this time I was more sensitive to the additional cost of living people were being subjected to as a result of badly performing housing stock. By some strange twist of fate I was introduced to an individual, Ronan Rogers, who told me about a government funded research project that was designed to identify ways to create a step change improvement the energy efficiency of houses.
This was it. Eureka. I’m an engineer by formation so this appealed to my innate technical bias and my desire to make a difference for people. What followed was 6 months of intense research, collaboration, and experimenting. I was completely consumed with the challenge of moving to a building standard that had never been achieved in Ireland before. I met some wonderful people along the way that were both gracious and generous in their help and encouragement. In the middle of all this I met my future wife Caitriona. What a roller coaster ride that time in my life was ! It was a magical time in my life. Full of excitement, new experiences and new relationships.
At the end of the day I was doing something that I really believed in. I was dating a person that I completely believed in. It was a no-brainer to commit to both. I look back at that time in my life with great affection. The goal of building Ireland’s first A-rated house was achieved. This was a game changer for the industry. The A-rated house would go on to be the new normal. I went on to build several A-rated houses that as many as 400 people now get to enjoy every day.
Caitriona and I got married 12 months later and now have 3 wonderful boys (we lost a beautiful boy called Noah to anencephaly) and there is another bambino due in September.