From the Construct Ireland archives

Renovated agricultural barn marries its traditional look with modern green features

As fossil fuel prices rise, the need for energy efficiency in achieving both is increasingly leading Irish people to an approach which combines both ventilation and heating,

Chris Croly from BDP outlines the low energy and renewable energy strategies used in University College Cork’s new Environmental Research Institute, a test bed for the design and performance of sustainable buildings, which is ideally suited to housing the 200+ environmental projects carried out by its researchers.

As the main attraction at the Spring House and Garden Show in the RDS earlier this year, the “Eco House” claimed to offer the house buying public an entirely ecologically sound new home, with considerations for energy efficiency, the environment and health evident in the design, structure, materials and technologies showcased in the house. Construct Ireland spoke to the house’s architect, John Goulding and Director of Century Homes, Paul MacDonald, who explain not only the technological considerations but the environmental demand for such a project.

John Goulding, the architect on the Eco House, has been actively involved in researching energy efficient design for the past 18 years, working through UCD’s influential Energy Research Group, and has worked on several European Commission funded research and building demonstration projects. He explains to Construct Ireland’s Jeff Colley how the Eco House performs.

With money leaving local economies across Ireland to service debt and significant drops in local authority revenues, towns such as Dundalk, Ennis and Kilkenny are investigating the possibility of bringing in electronic currencies to keep money circulating locally, as Richard Douthwaite reveals.

In the first installment of a new feature on international green buildings, Lenny Antonelli takes a look at five innovative, sustainable and striking buildings from around the world.

The Sun in Action by Paul Dykes, Marketing Manager of Sustainable Energy Ireland.

It is hoped that the lessons learned from the construction and monitoring of these buildings will assist in reducing the energy usage of future school designs.

Solearth partner & Éasca board member Mike Haslam profiles five inspiring English and US projects that share a similarly considered green design approach.

A new development at Grange Lough, Rosslare, reveals that passive houses can be made Irish – both in terms of what they’re built with, and how they look.