Housing & Infrastructure
Ireland is facing one of the most serious housing crises in its history. Demand for homes far outstrips supply, construction costs are rising and thousands of people are without a place to call home. Our university researchers are working to change that, developing new construction methods, finding smarter ways to use existing materials and identifying practical solutions to bring empty buildings back into use.
How we’re supporting Government:
Through UCD research, homes are being built smarter, faster and greener.
The Challenge: As housing demand continues to rise, Ireland faces a critical challenge: conventional construction approaches are slow, labour-intensive and environmentally costly. Productivity in the sector has stagnated for decades, while Ireland’s ageing workforce intensifies pressures on an already strained system
The Solution: Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) offer a compelling alternative. By shifting building processes from site-based construction into factory-based manufacturing, MMC enables higher-quality, faster, and more sustainable construction. Yet until recently, Ireland lacked the scientific and technical evidence required to support widespread adoption of these systems.
University Delivery: Dr Daniel McCrum, UCD School of Civil Engineering, is filling this gap. Through comprehensive structural testing, computational modelling, stakeholder engagement and national policy collaboration, his research is providing the foundational knowledge needed to build homes safely and more sustainably using MMC. His work directly informs Housing for All, the Government’s housing action plan 2025-2030, as well as the Government’s MMC Action Plan and other national efforts to modernise Ireland’s construction sector.
TCD are turning industrial waste into greener concrete
The Challenge: Ireland’s housing sector is under pressure to build more homes while reducing its environmental impact. In 2022, cement production was responsible for 5% of Ireland’s carbon emissions.
The Solution: Replacing traditional cement with biomass ash, an industrial waste product, to produce high-quality concrete that cuts carbon emissions by over 50%.
University Delivery: Prof Sara Pavia and Dr Zehao Lei, Trinity School of Engineering, have developed a way to turn biomass ash from Edenderry Power Station into high-performance, low-carbon concrete. In collaboration with FLI Precast Solutions, reducing carbon emissions by 51%.
DCU is turning empty space above shops into homes.
The Challenge: There are over 13,000 homeless people in Ireland, yet vacant units above shops sit empty across towns and cities. These spaces have potential as housing but are complex and costly to convert.
The Solution: Identifying the practical, financial and policy changes needed to make converting vacant units above shops into social and affordable housing a real option.
University Delivery: Dr Kathleen Stokes, DCU School of History and Geography, worked with Dublin Simon Community to examine what it would take to turn vacant units above shops into homes. Funded by the Housing Agency, the research sets out practical recommendations for government and housing organisations to make it happen.