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Project title

Investigating the National Implications For RadOn Concentrations Following Deep Energy-Efficient Retrofits; Multiple metric assessment approach

Primary Funding Agency

Environmental Protection Agency

Co-Funding Organisation(s)

n/a

Lead Organisation

Maynooth University (MU)

Lead Applicant

James McGrath

Project Abstract

The INFORM project is an interdisciplinary study that will comprehensively assess the pre/post radon concentrations following deep energy-retrofits strategies and estimate the associated health and economic impacts of the proposed large-scale national renovation strategy. Currently, there is an international knowledge gap regarding the implications of deep energy-efficient retrofits on indoor radon concentrations, and there are no existing Irish data. Ireland must play its part in contributing to reducing carbon emissions to prevent a climate catastrophe. Energy renovations in the Irish residential sector have been identified as one of the most cost-effective energy-efficiency improvements to achieve energy savings. The Irish Government, through the Long-Term Renovation Strategy, sets a target of 500,000 existing buildings (25% of the entire national building stock) to be retrofitted by 2030. However, there is significant potential for unintended consequences to arise during the retrofit process. Previous research has already shown that ‘shallow’ energy retrofitting of dwellings leads to greater airtightness and increased radon concentrations, and there is further concern that this will only be amplified in deep energy retrofit buildings. The negative health impacts on the Irish population cannot be overstated since radon is already considered the greatest source of radiation exposure to the general population, accounting for approximately 350 cases of lung cancer per year. Without proper consideration, energy-efficiency renovation strategies can potentially have multi-faceted policy failures, including increasing the number of lung cancer per year. INFORM will utilise existing resources to extend the international state-of-the-art knowledge by developing a novel approach to predicting time-series radon data, enhancing the current modelling approaches used to predict the radon influx into buildings. These equations will be incorporated into an advanced modelling framework to capture the temporal and spatial variations in radon concentrations. Simulations will be parameterised based on the representative Irish data to establish baseline scenarios that incorporate the buildings’ location, air permeability and ventilation scenarios. Simulation-based assessment of the impacts of the different renovation strategies will be carried out to assess pre/post radon concentrations. These impacts will be mapped against a representative portion of the national building stock which includes radon potential, local building topography and national renovation strategies. Health and economics assessments will be carried out to evaluate the economic impacts of these findings. A complementary specifically-structured radon monitoring campaign will collect 500 measurements to assess the main predictors of radon indoors post-retrofit in an Irish context. Overall, a comprehensive and scientifically-robust assessment of the national implications of radon in deep-retrofitted dwellings will be made available through this research. That provides evidence-based solutions that facilitate the transition to a low carbon economy while ensuring that health, decarbonisation and economic trade-off comparisons of residential renovations are given due consideration. Furthermore, INFORM will develop a novel decision-support tool to estimate renovation measures on pre/post radon concentrations, which will provide a key knowledge transfer mechanism to strategically inform national policies on protecting citizens from indoor radon in the implementation of deep retrofitting of dwellings and ensure that national retrofits commitments remain achievable.

Grant Approved

�349,651.91

Research Hub

Healthy Environment

Research Theme

n/a

Start Date

01/03/2023

Initial Projected Completion Date

28/02/2026