The Irish Government has launched a fund of up to €6 million (£5.2m) for the design, construction and management of energy efficient buildings.

Successful public and private sector applicants will currently be in the design phase of planning capital projects for new or existing buildings.

Participants must follow the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland’s (SEAI) Excellence in Energy Efficient Design (SEED) standard and embed energy-saving measures in the design of their projects.

The grant, worth up to €500,000 (£429,575) per project, does not support single retrofit projects but rather full asset energy performance.

Richard Burton, Communications, Climate Action and Environment Minister said: “Recognising increased potential and growing appetite for investment in this area, we have provided €6m in funding for this programme this year – almost about double the value of the demand in last year’s scheme.

“A huge range of bodies ranging from local GAA clubs to Data Centres and from hospitals to agribusiness have made savings of over 30% in their energy costs through the scheme. The certification it yields is a great selling point for climate aware leaders.”