Westmeath County Council aiming to lead by example with energy efficiency efforts

Westmeath County Council is taking steps to reduce its energy consumption and improve its carbon efficiency as a public service provider, a key goal of the Climate Action Plan 2024-2029.

To achieve the targets Westmeath County Council has entered the National Building Retrofit Programme for Local Authorities 2023-2025. The programme is 50% funded by the government’s Climate Action Fund and is administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).

A critical step in this programme is to achieve significant energy reductions and sustainable efficiencies in buildings identified as the council’s three largest energy users: Áras an Chontae Campus in Mullingar; The Civic Centre in Athlone; and Athlone Regional Sports Centre.

Contracts were signed on September 10, during World Green Building Week 2025, with IN2 Engineering Design Partnership who will act as consultants to deliver energy efficiency solutions.

Westmeath County Council and IN2 Engineering Design partnership will be working with Rogerson Reddan and Associates, as project managers, and with the South East Energy Agency as the energy efficiency design co-ordinators to progress the projects and to develop suitable energy solutions.

The projects will be a significant investment by Westmeath County Council in the future-proofing, climate resilience and energy efficiency of its public buildings. A council spokesperson said the team there remain grateful to the SEAI and the project partners for their support in this programme.

It is hoped that insights and learning from these projects will aid and inform future retrofit and energy efficiency schemes in public buildings, and community buildings, throughout Westmeath.