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New property finance platform offers chance to invest in Dublin passive house
PropertyBridges.com, a new “peer to peer” property investment company that aims to connect small-scale investors and local developers, has announced the launch of its first investment opportunity — a passive house project in Dublin.
Passive sheltered scheme 500 years in the making
Taking its cues from the original historic almshouse on site, St John’s Lichfield chose to build their new sheltered housing development for older persons to the passive house standard as part of high-quality design that emphasised community, calm and comfort.
News and blogs
Performance gap much smaller for passive homes, research finds
Dwellings built to passive standard consistently perform much closer to design targets, authors conclude.
Study: extreme overheating not reflected in building simulations
Dangerous overheating in buildings may not be showing up in desktop studies, new research suggests.
19 major cities commit to zero carbon buildings
London has joined 18 other cities around the world, including Paris, New York and Tokyo, in a landmark commitment to make all new buildings “zero carbon” by 2030. Regulations and planning policy will also target existing buildings to make them net-zero carbon by 2050.
New research finds air pollution particles in human placentas
Evidence of tiny particles of carbon, typically created by burning fossil fuels, has been found in human placentas for the first time, in early-stage research at Queen Mary University London.
Residents move into Shropshire passive house scheme
A £2m passive house residential scheme has now been handed over to residents in Shropshire. The mix of one, two and three-bedroom homes in Callaughtons Ash, Much Wenlock, comprises ten homes for social rental and two in shared ownership.
The utopian Usonian
Dr Marc Ó Riain looks at the influence of 20th century architectural giant Frank Lloyd Wright on low energy building design.
Two houses for the price of one
Housing pundit and architect Mel Reynolds argues that local authority action could be the key to solving the housing crisis.
Passive houses open to public this November
The International Passive House Days, during which passive house residents open their doors to members of the public, takes place this year from 9 to 11 November.
Health & well-being the focus of Better Homes 2018
The Irish Green Building Council will host its Better Homes 2018 conference in the Alex Hotel, Dublin on Thursday 8 November.
New NUIG study to examine ventilation in A-rated homes
A research project examining the effectiveness of ventilation systems in low energy homes is one of 45 new sustainable energy projects to receive government funding in companies and institutions across Ireland.
Building industry must tackle gender imbalance — CIF
The construction industry needs more female workers to meet current demand for skills and to deliver Ireland’s urgent housing and infrastructure needs, construction leaders say.
New UK retrofit standard will mandate ventilation & post occupancy checks
PAS 2035 follows high profile retrofit failures under government schemes
Current Irish housing policy is to not build housing
Even the most cursory examination of the figures shows how little housing the state is building, writes architect Mel Reynolds.
UK Passivhaus Awards to be presented at London Build
The annual UK Passivhaus Awards take place this year on 24 October at the London Build trade fair.
BER data: sick buildings risk while new build surges
Over a third of new homes may be sick buildings which fail to comply with minimum ventilation requirements under Part F of the building regulations, new analysis by Passive House Plus has indicated.
Filling the retrofit policy void
The imperative to engage in evidence-based deep retrofit grows by the day. With the UK government dragging its heels, Peter Rickaby finds signs of hope in local initiatives, and in burgeoning Irish efforts.
The House of Tomorrow, 1933
In his third column on visionary eco-buildings of the 20th century, Dr Marc Ó Riain looks at the pioneering passive solar designs of Fred Keck.
Government failing to act on radon in rented houses
Consultation on rental standards also criticised.
Breaking the mould in Thamesmead
The net effect of poor insulation levels, underheating and under-ventilation in buildings poses a major public health threat. Peter Rickaby describes one pioneering London project that’s taking a practical, methodical – and scalable – approach to solving the problem.
Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink
Inertia with state-owned land is exacerbating Ireland’s housing crisis, argues housing commentator and architect Mel Reynolds, in spite of the state possessing enough zoned land to make a major dent in solving the problem.
nZEB Ireland launched at national conference
nZEB Ireland, an independent not-for-profit organization established to fill the knowledge gap on the EU’s nearly zero energy building (nZEB) standard in Ireland, has been launched.
New IGBC scheme measures carbon footprint of building materials
The Irish Green Building Council has launched a new programme to measure the carbon footprint of construction products. The Environmental Product Declaration Ireland Programme (EPD Ireland) allows manufacturers to publish independently verified information about the environmental footprint of their products.
DLR social housing gets Home Performance Index silver cert
Irish Green Building Council has awarded the exacting Home Performance Index silver certification to a multi-unit social housing development in Dún Laoghaire.
Ecological host UK-wide airtightness seminars
To celebrate BBA approval of its Pro Clima Intello Plus intelligent airtight membrane, Ecological Building Systems and Pro Clima have announced a seminar tour that will bring airtightness insights to five locations around the UK.
Marketplace news
Origen launches De Dietrich heat pumps
Leading heating specialist Origen Energy has launched the new range of De Dietrich Alezio Easylife air-to-water heat pumps to the Irish market. The Easylife range features a line-up of heat pumps ranging in output from 4.5kW to 16kW and is available with domestic hot water cylinders ranging in size from 150 to 300 litres.
26-10-2018 Marketplace
BEAM introduces new high spec MVHR control panel
Industry-leading mechanical ventilation company BEAM Vacuum & Ventilation has introduced a new user-friendly, high specification digital control panel for their popular Axco C130 Counterflow MVHR system. The aura-t wall mounted panel offers an advanced yet simple-to-use touchscreen controller for programming, commissioning and occupancy control.
26-10-2018 Marketplace
Heat Merchants announces €4m expansion, 75 jobs & CO2 pledge
Heat Merchants Group, the largest suppliers of heating, plumbing and home improvement materials to the professional and retail markets in Ireland, recently announced the creation of up to 75 new jobs in a €4 million investment programme that will see the opening of nine new Heat Merchants branches, and four additional Tubs & Tiles showrooms, over the next three years.
26-10-2018 Marketplace
Meet nZEB with the new Amvic 300 ICF System
Leading insulated concrete formwork (ICF) manufacturer Amvic Ireland says that its new Amvic 300 ICF system contributes significantly to achieving the nZEB standard in new buildings, following a fresh energy assessment of some of the company’s previous projects.
26-10-2018 Marketplace
Eoin Leonard of i3PT nominated for entrepreneurial award
Eoin Leonard, CEO of i3PT Certification, has been named an EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist for 2018.
18-10-2018 Marketplace
Tramex launches two new data loggers for buildings
Tramex, the Irish designer and manufacturer of moisture monitors, has launched two new FeedBack DataLoggers — the DL-RHTA and DL-RHTX — for monitoring ambient conditions in buildings.
18-10-2018 Marketplace
Charlie Luxton launches Ecological’s UK seminar tour
Charlie Luxton will speak at the first event in Ecological’s Perfect Airtight Seal on 16 October at the National Self Build and Renovation Centre, Swindon, while the London event on 18 October will take place in the Building Centre.
10-10-2018 Marketplace
Sola recruiting two building services engineers
SOLA Energy Solutions, the pioneering Tipperary based deep retrofit contractor, is currently seeking to hire two mechanical/building service engineers to join its growing team.
08-10-2018 Marketplace
