Bord Gáis calls it quits on home insulation business

Bord Gáis has ceased offering home insulation products and boiler installations through its Home Team division due to a drop off in demand. The company will continue to offer boiler servicing and repair.

The move reflects the recent nationwide decline in home energy upgrades, a trend that is investigated in the new issue of Construct Ireland.

"We keep all services under review to ensure that our organisation is efficient and caters for changes in customer demand," a Bord Gáis statement read.  "On this basis, from Monday 9th July, we will cease offering home insulation products and boiler installations, and we will focus on the core activities within the Home Team brand such as boiler servicing and boiler repair. This decision was taken due to a fall in current customer demand but this will be reviewed again at a later point in the context of an analysis of the Home Services business and our full product portfolio."

The moves following a drastic decline in the number of applications for SEAI's Better Energy Home grants for insulation, boilers and solar thermal panels. While over 11,000 people were approved for grants in Decemmber 2011, fewer than 7,000 applied the following month, January 2012. This is less than half the number that applied in January 2011.

There have been "scores of lay-offs and redundancies across the country," the National Insulation Assocation of Ireland told Construct Ireland earlier in the year.

Meanwhile, Bord Gáis has announced a partnership with Siemens Ireland that it says will offer Irish businesses a "full, end to end energy efficiency service".

"Globally Siemens has completed more than 1,000 energy efficiency projects which have reduced energy costs by some €2 billion, while CO2 emissions were also reduced by around 1.2 million tons," said Siemiens Ireland CEO Paul Lynam. "We are delighted to be participating in this partnership and look forward to working together with Bord Gáis Energy in delivering sustainable savings for Irish business. While every case will be assessed individually, based on our experience of international projects, average energy cost savings of 15-20% can be realistically achieved.”