AIB has joined forces with the Irish Green Building Council (IGBC) to create an opportunity for developers who are willing to go beyond the already demanding building regulations.
IGBC have created the Home Performance Index (HPI). This sets a standard that takes account of factors beyond the energy efficiency of the home, also focussing on matters such as air quality, water efficiency and the sustainability of the location. Whilst aligned to Irish regulations, Home Perfomance Index is also internationally recognised in line with GRESB, a global benchmark in the property industry.
AIB’s Real Estate Finance Team will encourage the adoption of this index for new development schemes they review, offering all applications a lower priced option alongside their standard pricing proposal for development loans.
Donall O’Shea, Head of Real Estate Finance at AIB said “Whilst we acknowledge that this will result in lower income for the Bank, we believe this is the right thing to do. As a society, we face an enormous challenge and we in AIB’s real estate team want to lead the way in working with our customers to set higher standards for sustainable development.”
“We are proud members of IGBC and have worked closely with them to get this offering right and, whilst we acknowledge there is more to do to address the sustainability challenge, we look forward to continuing that journey through our work with IGBC with the next step being a jointly researched paper on the industry which is due to be published in the coming weeks.”
Pat Barry, CEO of IGBC, said “With this financial product AIB have created a really powerful tool by aligning discounted finance with greener standards. This will move our new housing construction far faster towards sustainability. It will ensure that wider criteria such as embodied carbon, better land use and improved biodiversity are integrated into new housing.”
AIB will also exclusively sponsor Build Green Now, IGBC’s upcoming conference in May which is to be held in the Gibson Hotel. This will be an opportunity for those committed to sustainability in the real estate industry to come together and discuss the opportunities which arise. Speakers will include Minister Eamonn Ryan and the conference will be attended by developers, contractors, engineers, architects and planners.