Community Centre needs big insulation work

Development and costing of a much-needed upgrade to the energy efficiency of Kilcullen Community Centre is to be a key focus in the coming year, the facility’s AGM agreed on Monday evening, writes Brian Byrne.

Outgoing chairman of the Centre’s board Ronan Murphy said the project ‘needs to be grabbed by the neck’ and appealed for volunteers to take leadership of the issue. “It’s a big project that will take some time,” he said.

The meeting heard that the Building Energy Rating (BER) needs to be raised substantially from its current D1 status. Doing this will entail cladding insulation both for the exterior walls and the roof.

The issue first came to light some time ago when it was proposed to repaint the building’s exterior walls, but it was found that there was no insulation and it wouldn’t be worth doing. A previous effort to improve the energy efficiency had stalled, the meeting heard.

“My view is, do it once and do it well,” Ronan Murphy said, in response to queries as to whether the necessary work could be done in stages. “When you make a big improvement in BER, you get a bigger percentage back in grants.”

Centre manager Enda O’Neill noted that there is no heating in the main hall, and when it gets busy with people playing sports a lot of condensation forms. He noted that there are more grants available now for improving community centres.

The chairman said that while a BER rating had previously been established, the certificate was now out of date and a new one will have to be established. “Anyone who takes this on will need to develop a relationship with SEAI, and see what funding will be available,” he said.

From the meeting Colm Mullins and Jerry Delaney agreed to take on the project. It is envisaged that they will have a report on the situation by summer.

(More from the AGM in coming days — ED)

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