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Deep green passive house defies all weather
With Old Holloway Cottage, located in rural Herefordshire, architect Juraj Mikurcik and his wife Joyce have lovingly crafted a beautiful-yet-simple passive home that is constructed from timber, insulated with straw, and finished with a palette of natural, durable materials — and all for a surprisingly small budget.
The PH+ guide to airtightness
Once poorly understood by the mainstream building industry, airtightness is now increasingly seen as one of the most crucial objectives on any building project. Not only is it vital for energy efficiency, it’s also key for thermal comfort and for protecting a building’s structure from dampness and mould. In this comprehensive guide to airtightness, we look at why it’s so important, how exactly it’s measured, and most importantly, how to achieve it on site.
News and blogs
New research raises spray foam health questions
New studies are seeking to answer questions about how spray foam insulation, and materials containing formaldehyde, affect indoor air quality — and some of the early results are worrying.
Daylight, embodied carbon & more: advances in the AECB PHribbon software
Tim Martel of Optimal Retrofit describes recent advances in PHribbon, an Excel tool designed to improve the functionality of the passive house design software PHPP.
Wales votes to cut emissions 80%
The Welsh assembly has voted through new legally-binding carbon emissions targets for the country. The targets bind the country to reduce emissions by 80%, relative to 1990 levels, by 2050.
Disastrous Preston retrofits make national headlines
The revelations in Passive House Plus issue 24 about failed external insulation retrofits in the Fishwick area of Preston have been followed up by UK national media, putting pressure on Ofgem, the electricity and gas regulator, to make more effort to help those affected.
Low carbon homes forum to tour the UK in 2019
A series of nationwide forums designed to help housing and construction professionals improve home energy efficiency across the UK has secured support from regional low carbon champions.
Buildings need better overheating models to guarantee future comfort
Building designers need to undertake much deeper analyses of overheating risks, and do so under future climate change scenarios, in order to ensure their buildings can adapt and remain comfortable for occupants in a warming world.
ISH fair returns to Frankfurt in March 2019
ISH, the world’s leading trade fair focused on building services, energy, and water, returns to Messe Frankfurt from 11 to 15 March 2019.
Rediscovery Centre wins sustainable energy award
The Rediscovery Centre in Ballymun picked up the Buildings Award at the 2018 SEAI Sustainable Energy Awards, which were held at the Mansion House, Dublin, on 25 October. The awards recognise excellence in energy management in business, communities and public sector organisations.
New Europe-wide boost for energy efficient mortgages
Energy efficient properties less likely to default, research finds
Heat pumps & mechanical ventilation start to dominate new homes market
Heat pumps were likely the dominant heating system in new Irish homes in 2017, and mechanical ventilation was on course to overtake natural ventilation in new homes in 2018, an analysis by Passive House Plus has revealed.
Irish building industry foresees imminent green shift
Fifty-four percent of Irish organisations participating in the World Green Building Trends 2018 SmartMarket Report expect their projects to be green by 2021 — well above the global average of 47%. “The number of green buildings has increased significantly in Ireland over the last five years,” said Pat Barry, CEO of the Irish Green Building Council (IGBC).
New authority to oversee safety in high rise apartment blocks
It is being suggested that the creation of a Joint Competent Authority – as called for by Dame Judith Hackitt in her review of the building regulatory system, after the Grenfell tragedy – is due to be announced by the UK Ministry of Housing very soon. And a new industry initiative is calling for Dame Judith’s recommendations to be implemented in full.
Herefordshire eco-cottage wins Passivhaus Award
Old Holloway Cottage, the 100 square metre timber-and-straw cottage in rural Herefordshire that was designed by its homeowner, architect Juraj Micurcik, picked up the small project award at this year’s UK Passivhaus Awards, which were presented at the end of October.
A housing boom without the houses?
There was much talk of jobless recovery as economies picked up after the last global recession. Mel Reynolds detects signs of an analogous proposition in the Irish property market: a housing boom that may be close to peaking without much in the way of housebuilding to report.
UK buildings regulations set for major overhaul
Review to look at Part L & Part F, which deal with energy efficiency & ventilation
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.
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.
Marketplace news
Ecological scoop hat-trick of awards at Archi Expo
Ecological Building Systems scooped three awards at the recent Architecture & Building Expo held in the RDS, Dublin. This event brings together the country’s leading architects, architectural technologists, industry professionals and specifiers.
11-02-2019 Marketplace
Keystone’s Hi-therm+ Lintel receives BBA cert
Keystone Lintels has received certification from the British Board of Agrément (BBA) for its Hi-therm+ Lintel. According to the company, this makes it the only BBA approved one-piece lintel solution which achieves the appendix R value for steel lintels in Part L 2013 (depending on wall construction).
11-02-2019 Marketplace
Only choose the best airtightness products — Usher Insulations
Leading insulation and airtightness contractor Usher Insulations has emphasised the importance of using reliable, quality airtightness products on site — to ensure that buildings remain air-sealed over their full lifetime, and not just for the day of their blower door test.
11-02-2019 Marketplace
Viessmann launch new ultraquiet air source heat pumps
Viessmann has introduced two new air source heat pumps, the Vitocal 200-A and Vitocal 222-A, which boast innovative noise-reduction technology. Both operate so quietly that they are suitable for densely built-up areas such as terraced housing estates, and both deliver high energy efficiency with low operating costs, according to Viessmann.
04-02-2019 Marketplace
Foam glass a sustainable aggregate alternative — Mike Wye & Associates
Foam glass gravel provides a sustainable alternative to traditional aggregates and hardcores, according to Mike Wye & Associates, the leading supplier of traditional and sustainable building materials.
04-02-2019 Marketplace
Passive house professionals flock to Ecological airtightness tour
Professionals from across the passive house and building physics communities gathered in London and Swindon during October thanks to an airtightness events programme hosted by Ecological Building Systems, in partnership with the BBA and pro clima.
22-01-2019 Marketplace
Understanding enthalpy heat exchanges for MVHR
Leading ventilation supplier CVC Direct has advised anyone specifying an MVHR (mechanical ventilation with heat recovery) system to understand the basics of relative humidity and consider their own local climate before choosing a system with an enthalpy heat exchanger.
22-01-2019 Marketplace
NIBE heat pumps chosen for Bolands Quay development
NIBE’s F730 exhaust air heat pumps have been selected to provide heating, ventilation and hot water for the Bolands Quay apartment development at Grand Canal Dock in Dublin, which is currently under construction.
08-01-2019 Marketplace
