Climate and Business
Businesses are playing their part in reducing emissions in Waterford. Businesses across the city & county are taking the Climate Pledge for Businesses to reduce their emissions.
Climate Pledge For Businesses
Make the Business Pledge for a Cleaner, Greener Waterford to earn a 9% discount on your Rates
The business pledge will be open here from September 2nd 2024 until October 18th
Since 2022, businesses across Waterford have been rewarded for prioritising energy efficiency through the Commercial Rates Energy Discount Scheme.
25% of greenhouse gas emissions in Waterford come from businesses and Waterford City and County Council want to help businesses to reduce their emissions and costs.
The Council are working towards reducing emissions from our own operations by 51% by 2030 and this year we are asking businesses to pledge to take specific actions to reduce their environmental impact too. We are also collecting energy cost data so we can quantify the impact of all these actions across the next few years.
The Commercial Rates Energy Discount Scheme will now be known as the Business Pledge for a Cleaner, Greener Waterford and businesses that complete this year’s Pledge will receive a 9% discount after the deadline, once it is verified that all requirements have been met. Waterford is the only county in Ireland delivering such an initiative and businesses and the Council working together in the coming years will hopefully make Waterford the most sustainable place in Ireland to do business.
See a short video on the Business Pledge here.
LEO Sustainability Initiatives
‘Green for Business’ is a free initiative from the Local Enterprise Office which aims to help businesses become more sustainable. You’ll receive two days of consultancy with a specialist Green Consultant who can recommend specific changes and give you practical advice on how to become more sustainable and reduce costs. This will benefit both your business and the environment.
Find the application form and eligibility here: Local Enterprise Office (submit.com)
The Energy Efficiency Grant supports the investment in technologies and equipment identified in a Green for Business Report, GreenStart Report or a SEAI Energy Audit with 50% of eligible costs up to a maximum grant of €5,000. The aim of the scheme is to reduce the impact of enterprises on the environment thereby increasing the agility and resilience of these businesses.
All details, including eligibility can be found here and the application form can be found here.
Funding
Waterford City & County Council applies annually on behalf of businesses for the Communities Energy Grant, a national retrofit initiative managed by SEAI. For more information on the Communities Energy Grant, click here: Community Grants Overview.
SEAI also offers a support scheme for energy audits. An audit will help you to understand how much energy your business uses, what actions you should take to save energy, and their estimated cost and impact. The scheme will offer SMEs a €2,000 voucher towards the cost of a high quality energy audit. In most cases, this will cover the total cost of the audit. Application to the scheme is easy, with automatic approval for eligible businesses. For information on this scheme, click here: SEAI Energy Audits.
The Triple E Register for Products
The Triple E register is a list of products approved as being energy efficient. It helps all sectors to reduce carbon emissions and energy costs. Products on this register all meet a minimum set of stringent energy efficiency criteria and typically will be of a best-in-class efficiency standard. As such, procuring against this register will provide you with the assurance that you are purchasing a product of very high efficiency.
The Triple E register can be found here: Triple E Register for Products | Business & Public Sector | SEAI
