In March 2024 I attended a Frugal Cities Conference in Lifetime Labs in Cork city on behalf of Carbery Housing Association.
Cork has joined 100 climate neutral cities who are trying to combat climate change and make peoples homes warmer and better. Cork has a climate action plan which covers everything from leadership to housing, transport and much more.  A survey of people in Cork showed that over 86% of people said we needed to take action on climate change and wellbeing.
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There is a new housing development as you come into Cork from the West, Ardrostif, its main aim is to develop sufficiency and cooperation within the housing . The site is within walking distance of shops, schools, doctors, etc. so people don’t need to get in their cars to access what they need everyday. All  houses are A2 rated and have heat pumps. It just makes sense. It is also on a very good bus route. Personally I think this is the sort of housing development we need more of.Â
We had a talk from  Gobnait of Codema Energy who told us about a home energy kit that can be borrowed from local libraries . It was developed so people can easily find out how much energy they are using and for what.Â
Katherine from SEAI told us that 50% of houses in Ireland have a D rating or below  with heat being lost through the roof, walls, doors, windows and floors.  So we all need to better insulate our homes to keep warm and save energy. The government supports this and there are grants to help.Â
Giovanni from the Irish Green Building Council told us how it is important to close the loop in the supply of building materials so that we use them more responsibly, reuse if we can and recycle what has been used. 49 countries are already doing this including France and Italy.Â
We also talked about active travel, local food, composting and reusable cloth nappies.Â
All these cut down on waste, save money and help the environment.Â
If anyone would like anymore information then please contact me.Â
Liz Coakley Wakefield.Â