Based in Aulane, Abbeydorney, Co Kerry, Kingdom Installation Ltd is a specialist in the supply and installation of energy efficiency solutions to the domestic, commercial and public sector markets. Building Ireland caught up with General Contracts Manager Ciaran Carmody to find out about the ins and outs of the company, its current projects and recent success at the Irish Construction Excellence Awards.
This year sees Kingdom Installation Ltd marking its 20th anniversary and business is perhaps as strong as it has ever been for the Kerry-based company.
Employing 45 direct staff, the business is headquarters in Abbeydorney, Co. Kerry and has additional bases in Limerick, Sligo, Tipperary, and Dublin that service the whole of Ireland.
It’s a firm which now has two decades of experience when it comes to providing project management one-stop shop services for renewable energy efficiency solutions to the domestic, commercial and public sector markets.
Kingdom Installation Ltd also specialises in multi-unit property renewable energy upgrades for social and affordable housing associations, county councils and one-off private homes nationwide.
Building Ireland touched base with General Contracts Manager and Team Leader Ciaran Carmody to hear more about a business which has transitioned into a nationwide leader in the supply and installation of energy efficiency solutions under the directorship of James Egan and Kate Barrett.
“The company was established in 2003 to service the local market in Kerry and, over the years with contracts that we’ve gained, we’ve extended our coverage where we now provide a nationwide service,” Ciaran outlined.
“During Covid-19, we completed renewable energy upgrades to 50 homes in Co Donegal in March 2020 and we also had a project in Grantstown in Wexford completing a further 30 houses there, so we do a nationwide service. A great deal of our clients have been for the social affordable Housing Associations.
“What we’re keen to hammer home here now is that we’re specialising in completing high rise apartment blocks within inner cities. We’ve are currently completing a large 56 apartment block in New Court on Kevin St. in Dublin which is a five-storey apartment block, and all the tenants are in situ for the duration of the projects, so we do all the work while the tenants remain in their homes so there’s no decamping by them.
“So, we can manage any retrofitting project. We’ve completed five or six apartment blocks in Dublin over the last two years for CHI and for Focus Housing Ireland, so it’s an area we’re specialising in.”
Since its inception, Kingdom Installation has grown year on year towards becoming a one-stop shop for all their clients’ home energy improvements from solar PV, Air to water heat pumps, cavity and attic insulation, heat recovery, External wall insulation to Energy Consultation for properties across the whole of Ireland.
It has been the company’s mission to drive down the client’s home heating and energy costs and, in doing so, it could slash peoples home energy bills by up to 60%.
With its work being greatly endorsed by the SEAI, Kingdom Installation continues to ensure that its products and business practices are in line with industry standards and best practice.
All of the company’s cavity wall insulation has been Irish Agreement Board (IAB) approved and it constantly adapts and strives to meet changing customer needs, technical designs, environmental standards and specifications.
Right now, business is thriving at Kingdom Installation with on-going projects all over Ireland.
Its General Contracts Manager was good enough to share some of the details on those projects.
“We’re busy with the one-stop shop scheme and very busy with a project down in Wexford at the minute which is with Respond Housing – there’s approx. 60 homes there,” Ciaran explained.
“We have another one coming up in north Offaly very shortly and we’re looking at another apartment block in Ballybrittas, so this is a very specialised type of work which has kind of catapulted us to being more wanted than us going out looking for the work.
“We’re being approached by Housing Associations and Private Developers to see if we can help them to tap into the grants that are available and complete a full project management service, which would initial making the application to SEAI on the Clients Behalf and completely project manage it from start to finish. We organise all the contractors, supervise all the works and ensure that they’re to scheme standards and ensure that it’s on budget and on time.
“So, we’re extremely busy at the minute and we see that there’s a great future in this. We’re all the time looking to expand our company and we hope to have an extra 10 to 15 staff members by the end of next year.”
In April, Kingdom Installation’s work was recognised on a national scale when it came away victorious at the annual Irish Construction Excellence (ICE) Awards.
Held at the Convention Centre in Dublin on the 27th of April 2023, the company was successful in the Social & Affordable Housing Up to €5m category for its retrofit of Brook view Court, Tallaght, Co Dublin.
Kingdom Installation were the Project coordinators on this project with the clients being Cooperative Housing Ireland (CHI) and delivery of the project saw the company perform crucial deep energy upgrades to 58 low-income homes in Brook view.
The retrofits were carried out both on time and within budget, in a challenging construction climate where labour and supply shortages hindered progress across the sector during the Covid-19 pandemic and, unlike other large-scale retrofits, CHI Members (residents) lived in situ while works took place.
Speaking on the award success, Ciaran said that the company were “extremely delighted to be part of this journey”.
“It means everything to us really because it’s a recognition for us being in this industry since 2003 and we’re now a well-oiled machine who have the skilled workforce and crucially the capacity to take on these very difficult projects,” said the Limerick native.
“To get the recognition is great for the company itself going forward.”
Winning the award hand in hand with Cooperative Housing Ireland made the success all the sweeter for Kingdom Installation, and the former would go to enjoy more award success when it won ‘Net Zero in Housing’ at the 2023 Chartered Institute of Housing All-Ireland Awards which were held at the Europa Hotel in Belfast at the end of May 2023.
“We’ve been on a journey with Cooperative Housing Ireland for the last number of years in retrofitting their older housing stock and bring them out of fuel poverty,” Ciaran said.
“CHI developed a program called the Improving Warmth & Wellbeing programme where they are upgrading 216 of their lowest performing energy homes, in conjunction with Kingdom Installation Ltd they’re currently halfway through this program.
“To date, in Phase 1 we have completed 58 homes in Tallaght including a further 33 homes in Leopardstown, 31 apartments in Sean McDermott Street, 48 apartments in West Court the Liberties together with a further 20 apartments in South Earl Street also in the Liberties and, in Phase 2, which we are currently working on now, we are completing a 58-apartment block over 5 storeys in Kevin’s St in Dublin.
Currently on site in Kevin Street apartment block “We’ve five full-time project managers on that site and up to 80 people working there when it’s very busy and down to 25 when it’s not so busy. That project is due to be completed in a month to six weeks’ time.”
So, all of that considered, the burning question is what has been the secret behind Kingdom Installation’s over these past 20 years?
How has a small start-up grown into a thriving venture which is now mandated by SEAI as a one-stop shop for the delivery of retrofit projects?
For Ciaran, it comes down to a combination of different factors, with experience and professionalism still very much at the forefront.
Recently Kingdom Installation Ltd. gained ISO9001:2015 Quality Management Systems accreditation in Q4 of 2022 and in Q1 of 2023 quickly followed this up by obtaining the ISO45001:2018 Occupational Health & Safety Management systems accreditation.
“We provide a full service from start to finish and we’re very professional in how we set everything out. We basically got out and inspect all the properties, carry out feasibility studies, carry out technical assessments and complete pre and post DEAP Dwelling Reports including pre and post published BERS, We provide the client/homeowners with a unique road map for achieving better BER Ratings on their homes by setting down a suite of measures to initially get them to the min upgrade of a B2 and for those that want better ratings we also provide further measures to be completed on their homes that will achieve this,” said the General Contracts Manager.
“So, we identify early doors the extent of energy upgrading works to be completed on a particular home/project and we set out the feasibility study in terms of what the financial grants from SEAI and the participating energy suppliers will be. Kingdom Installation Ltd front loads the grants which means the clients have only to pay the difference. When the works are completed to SEAI standards and inspected accordingly Kingdom Installation Ltd get the grants paid directly to them by SEAI and the Participating energy suppliers.
“We complete a full one-stop shop where we take away all the paperwork, dealing with their tenants and supervising the works on site for the duration of the works for Housing Associations and County Councils, private homes etc with full-time project managers onsite that help deliver the project seamlessly.”
Ciaran concluded in saying: “When we’re finished a project, it’s handed over to the highest of standards and we want to maintain those standards going forward. We believe the people that we have within the company are very experienced and can do these projects very successfully.
“With the experience that we have gained on the multiple projects completed through SEAI grant aided works over the years and knowing that standards required to meet the scheme constraints is the key to our success.”
Kingdom Installation Ltd
Aulane,
Abbeydorney,
Co Kerry
Tel: 066 713 5991
Email: [email protected]
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, August 2023, Vol 9 No 8
