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Non-Domestic Building Energy Ratings Quarter 4 2025

More than 20% of Offices with a non-domestic building energy rating were rated F or G, as of Q4 2025

Online ISSN: 2009-9304
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Key Findings

  • There were 5,476 non-domestic Building Energy Ratings (BERs) published in 2025, 2% fewer than in 2024 (See Figure 1, Table A and Table 1).

  • Retail was the most frequently reported non-domestic building type (37%) followed by Offices (25%) (See Table 3).

  • F or G ratings were received by 18% of rated Retail buildings and 22% of rated Office buildings. Similarly, 17% of Retail buildings were A or B rated, compared with 13% of Offices (See Table 3).

  • For all years 2009-2025, 4% of assessed buildings received an A rating, 15% a B rating and 32% a C rating (See Figure 2 and Table 3). 

  • A ratings were received by 45% of assessed buildings constructed since 2020, compared with 4% of the overall rated stock (See Figure 4 and Table 13).

  • Electricity was the most common main space heating fuel for 61% of assessed buildings, compared with 26% using gas and 10% using heating oil (See Table 7 and Table 8).

  • By type of building, Retail was most likely to use electricity as the main space heating fuel (76%), followed by Offices (60%) (See Table 8). 

  • The highest proportion of A ratings by county was in County Kildare (8%). Limerick City, Sligo, and Kilkenny had the highest proportions of G rated buildings at 16% each (See Table 5).

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (22 January 2026) published Non-Domestic Building Energy Ratings for Quarter 4 (Q4) 2025.

Commenting on the release, Kevin Hunt, Statistician in the Climate and Energy Division, said: "The number of non-domestic Building Energy Rating (BER) audits reported in all quarters of 2025 was 5,476. This was 2% lower than the 5,581 audits reported in 2024 (See Figure 1, Table A and Table 1).

Number of Non-Domestic BER Audits

In total, there were 85,131 non-domestic BER audits reported for the period January 2009 to December 2025 (See Table 1). This figure includes multiple audits for some buildings. 

Including only the most recent audit for each building, 4% of buildings were awarded an A rating, 15% a B rating, and 32% a C rating (See Figure 2 and Table 3).

Energy Efficiency by Period of Construction 

A ratings were given to more than two-fifths of BERs for non-domestic buildings built between 2020-2025 (45%). By comparisonA ratings were 21% of BERs awarded for buildings built between 2015-2019, and 4% of the overall audited stock (See Figure 4 and Table 13)

Energy Efficiency by Building Type

Retail was the most frequently reported non-domestic building type (37%) followed by Offices (25%). A higher proportion of Retail buildings were A or B rated (17%) compared with Offices (13%). Similarly, 22% of Office buildings received an F or G rating, compared with 18% of Retail buildings. Across all building types, Schools & Colleges were the most energy efficient, with 67% receiving an A or B rating (See Table 3). The highest proportion of G ratings were in Workshops & Maintenance Depots (23%) (See Figure 3 and Table 3).

Main Space Heating Fuel

Electricity was the main space heating fuel for 61% of all rated buildings, compared with 26% using mains gas and 10% using heating oil (See Table 6). 

By type of building, Retail was the most likely to use electricity as the main space heating fuel (76%), followed by Offices (60%), while Hotels were the least likely (13%) (See Table 8). 

Local Area Analysis 

The highest proportion of A ratings by county was in County Kildare (8%). Limerick CitySligo and Kilkenny had the highest proportions of G rated buildings at 16% each (See Table 4). In the Dublin postal districts, the highest proportion of A ratings was in Dublin 20 (9%), while the highest proportion of G ratings was 17% inDublin 8 (See Table 5).  

Floor Area

By average floor area, Offices were larger than Retail buildings by more than double (817 mcompared with 336 m2). The largest average floor area reported for Office buildings was 1,230 min the Dublin postal districts (see Table 10).”

Editor's Note

BER certificates expire after 10 years unless a new audit has been undertaken. The CSO has included these expired certificates in this release in order to have a more representative analysis of energy efficiency in the non-domestic sector.Provisional BER certificates for buildings that are incomplete or not yet constructed are not included.

Number of Non-Domestic BER Audits by Quarter

The number of non-domestic Building Energy Rating (BER) audits reported in all quarters of 2025 was 5,476. This was 2% lower than the 5,581 audits reported in 2024 (See Table 1). In total, there were 85,131 non-domestic BER audits reported for the period 2009 to 2025 (See Table 1).

Table A Number of Non-Domestic BER certificates
 Number % change
Period20212022202320242025 2025/2024
Quarter 18109981,1001,2841,125 -12%
Quarter 28481,0581,1911,5881,405 -12%
Quarter 31,0741,2051,2591,4041,397 -1%
Quarter 41,1079751,2101,3051,549 19%
Year3,8394,2364,7605,5815,476 -2%

On 22 January 2026 at 1.30pm the data in Table A was updated. The percentage change for Non-Domestic BER certificates published for Q4 2025 compared with Q4 2024 was mistakenly recorded as 1.9% instead of 19%. As a result it was rounded to 2% in Table A. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

2022202320242025
January247300416335
February386310450367
March365490418423
April385371482444
May357400620510
June316420486451
July395471443459
August394351409409
September416437552529
October288437431539
November394420487533
December293353387477
Table 1 BER Certificates (Non-Domestic) 2009-2025

Number of Non-Domestic BER Audits by Year

Including only the most recent audit for each building (83,380), 4% of buildings were awarded an A rating, 15% a B rating, and 32% a C rating (See Figure 2 and Table 3).

BER Ratings
A3.381
B12.355
C26.913
D16.954
E8.981
F5.273
G9.523
G9.523
BER Ratings
A3.381
B12.355
C26.913
D16.954
E8.981
F5.273
G9.523
G9.523
Table 2 BERs by Year (Non-Domestic) 2009-2025

Non-Domestic BER Audits by Type of Building

Schools & Colleges were the most energy efficient non-domestic building type audited, with 51% receiving an A rating. The second most energy efficient building type were Nursing Residential Homes & Hostels, with 17% rated A. The highest proportion of G ratings were in Workshops & Maintenance Depots (23%) (See Figure 3 and Table 3).

ABCDEFG
Retail116371810612
Office310292313814
Restaurant/public house1934321554
Hotel5293818532
Warehouses216332010613
Workshops/maintenance depot092322141023
Industrial process building33027161149
Hospitals and primary health care1014252112810
Community/day centre12232917857
Nursing residential homes and hostels17422611312
Schools and colleges5116159423
Sports facilities3302917868
Other171821149614
Table 3 BERs by Type of Building (Non-Domestic) 2009-2025

Non-Domestic BER Audits by County and Dublin Postal District

The highest proportion of A ratings by county was in County Kildare (8%). Limerick City, Sligo and Kilkenny had the highest proportions of G rated buildings at 16% each (See Table 4)In the Dublin postal districts, the highest proportion of A ratings was in Dublin 20 (9%), while the highest proportion of G ratings was 17% inDublin 8 (See Table 5).

Table 4 BERs by County (Non-Domestic) 2009-2025

Table 5 BERs by Dublin Postal District (Non-Domestic) 2009-2025

Main Space Heating Fuel and Ventilation Systems for Rated Buildings

For 61% of audited buildings the main space heating fuel was electricity, compared with 26% using mains gas and 10% using heating oil (See Table 6). In Hotels, mains gas was the most common fuel source for space heating (46%), with heating oil the second most common (29%) (See Table 8). Mains gas (42%) and heating oil (27%) were also the most common main space heating fuel for Nursing Residential Homes and Hostels.

Table 6 BERs by Main Space Heating System Fuel (Non-Domestic) 2009-2025

Table 7 Main Space Heating System Fuel by County (Non-Domestic) 2009-2025

Table 8 Main Space Heating System Fuel by Type of Building (Non-Domestic) 2009-2025

Table 9 Main Ventilation System by Type of Building (Non-Domestic) 2009-2025

Floor Area, Primary Energy Use, and Carbon Dioxide Emissions by Type of Building and County

The average floor area for all audited non-domestic buildings was 738 m2. The building type with the largest average floor area was Hotels (3,361 m2) while the smallest was Restaurants and Public Houses (285 m2) (See Table 10).

Table 10 Average Floor Area by Type of Building and County (Non-Domestic) 2009-2025

Table 11 Average Primary Energy Use by Type of Building and County (Non-Domestic) 2009-2025

Table 12 Average Carbon Dioxide Emissions by Type of Building and County (Non-Domestic) 2009-2025

Non-Domestic BER Audits by Period of Construction

A ratings were given to more than two-fifths of BERs for non-domestic buildings built between 2020-2025 (45%). By comparison, A ratings were 21% of BERs awarded for buildings built between 2015-2019, and 4% of the overall audited stock (See Figure 4 and Table 13).

ABCDEFG
1900-197707292615913
1978-1999013362212710
2000-20040194319847
2005-200921834189614
2010-2014622281910510
2015-201921351910428
2020-20244420169434
2025-20294620178423
Table 13 BERs by Period of Construction (Non-Domestic) 2009-2025

Table 14 Main Space Heating System Fuel by Period of Construction (Non-Domestic) 2009-2025

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