The Land Development Agency (LDA), in partnership with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, has broken ground on the largest public housing scheme in the state in recent years – a passive house scheme at Shanganagh in Shankill, Co Dublin.
The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar, TD, has launched Construct Innovate – a new Enterprise Ireland Technology Centre hosted at University of Galway which may play a key role in the transition to sustainable building in Ireland.
The energy used to heat, cool and light our buildings is responsible for almost a quarter of Ireland’s national carbon emissions – with the carbon embodied in the buildings themselves representing over an eighth of the total, a new report has revealed.
The Irish Green Building Council (IGBC) today launched a new version of its Home Performance Index (HPI) sustainable home certification system at its annual residential conference, Better Homes 2022. The focus of the event was on delivering low carbon homes at scale.
Do thicker insulated walls, triple glazed windows, & MVHR ventilation systems tip the scales unfavourably for passive house when it comes to embodied carbon?
As Russia weaponises gas exports, the European Commission has proposed a gas demand reduction plan, to cut use in Europe by 15 per cent until next spring.
The world’s first passive house hospital has been certified by the Passive House Institute – showing that the standard can be applied to even to the most demanding building types.
The AECB conference 2022 will focus on practical solutions to decarbonising buildings, with a particular emphasis on timber-based approaches with the potential to deliver low energy, healthy buildings at scale while minimising the use of precious resources and impact on the environment.
A new online hub aimed at upskilling the construction sector is now live.
New radon maps, launched by the Environmental Protection Agency today at the National Radon Forum, show an increased risk from radon in Ireland, with 170,000 homes now predicted to be at risk of radon exposure above the national reference level.
Some one-stop-shops will not take on projects with new build extensions.
Latest climate report calls for more e cient use of floor space in buildings
Green groups criticise lack of focus on embodied carbon. The European Commission is proposing sweeping changes to the way in which energy ratings for buildings are allocated, in a bid to stimulate the retrofit of the worst performing buildings across Europe.
Leading sustainable building association the AECB has secured funding to create an international resource to share detailed information on low energy buildings in the UK, Ireland and, ultimately, internationally, via a rebuild of the Low Energy Buildings Database (LEBD).
Passive House Plus editor and publisher Jeff Colley’s TEDx talk on the passive house standard is now available to view online.
The Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland (RIAI) has launched its 2030 Climate Challenge, calling for urgent action to be taken by architects and the wider construction industry to tackle the climate emergency.
Ireland’s new climate action plan, which was published on Thursday 4 November, contains the country’s first official targets for limiting the embodied carbon of construction materials.
Coventry University research has found that 40 per cent of primary school classrooms examined in a study did not have an adequate ventilation rate to combat the spread of Covid-19.
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BaseTherm, a liquid floor insulation system produced and installed using a mobile floor insulation factory, has gained NSAI Agrément certification.
16-01-2023 Marketplace
Two Partel airtight systems, Exoperm Mono SA 250 and Vara Fluid Spray, have been evaluated and certified as Passive House Components by the Passive House Institute in Darmstadt, Germany. Both systems achieved advanced component status, Class phA.
16-01-2023 Marketplace
Leading insulation manufacturer Xtratherm is to be renamed Unilin Insulation from the start of 2023 onwards.
16-01-2023 Marketplace
Ecocem, Europe’s leader in low carbon cement technologies, has announced a major step in enabling the global cement industry to decarbonise on a trajectory compliant with the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 C.
16-01-2023 Marketplace
Irish mechanical ventilation manufacturer ProAir has become one of the first companies in the world to gain Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for mechanical ventilation systems.
Leading sustainable building product supplier Ecological Building Systems has launched Retro EcoWall, a new quick-to-install internal wall insulation system ideal for traditional buildings, which is designed to meet the requirements of the nearly zero energy building…
Leading heating technology manufacturer Grant has launched its new Spira Pell condensing wood pellet boiler.
The government substantially increased the available grant for attic insulation earlier this year, and given the expected boost in attic upgrades this is likely to stimulate, John Egan of Cork-based…
Leading sustainable heating systems provider Hevac Group has launched the De Deitrich Elensio hot water heat pump range onto the Irish market – using a refrigerant with a risibly low…
A garden room built by Cork-based Blue Mountain Garden Rooms has a significantly lower carbon footprint when compared to an equivalent log cabin with a concrete base, or to a…
Grant has announced its membership of Octabuild in a move that will see the company strengthen its relations in the building and construction industry and showcase its award-winning home heating technologies.
Leading EPS insulation manufacturer Kore is set to launch Kore Low Carbon EPS onto the Irish market – unlocking dramatic reductions in embodied carbon without affecting performance.
World-renowned Irish moisture meter pioneer Tramex has launched a new cloud-based system for budding building pathologists – to enable users to remotely monitor buildings and detect potential indoor air quality…
Leading heating expert Firebird is now offering full service design for renewable heating systems.
Partel has become the first manufacturer of building envelope systems in Ireland to publish Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for airtight and windtight membranes.
Kilsaran is the first company to be awarded NSAI Agrément certification for external wall insulation to lightweight gauge steel (LGS) frame substrates. KEWI (Kilsaran External Wall Insulation) can be applied to LGS walls, for both infill…
Airflow Developments has launched a compact mechanical heat recovery (MVHR) unit with an integrated cooker hood, designed to combine ventilation and extraction of cooking odours.
Ecological Building Systems welcomes the fact that embodied carbon has at last come into focus in Ireland.
Partel has received recognition, and accreditation as a registered training provider for Engineers Ireland for two CPD (continuing professional development) seminars: ‘Methods and applications to improve air and wind-tightness, thermal…
Partel has upgraded the performance and functionality of its Acraline Roll adhesive with new technical features. The company said that Acraline offers a “unique sealing solution for membranes” in the…
Editor Jeff Colley remembers Paul Doran, one of Ireland's foremost builders, who has tragically passed away.
Over the last century architects have unwittingly played a key role in terms of climate collapse and a slew of linked catastrophic environmental and social harms. A new book aims to change that.
In the latest missive in his series on the history of low energy design, Dr Marc Ó'Riain looks to some wacky and wonderful experimentation in a project that aimed to transform public perception of Milton Keynes.
In the #BuildingLife Ambassador Spotlight Series, Passive House Plus is profiling leaders who have endorsed the Irish Green Building Council’s call to address the environmental impacts of buildings across their lifecycle.
In the aftermath of COP26, Dr Peter Rickaby asks what is the government’s plan to deliver the deep, whole-house, quality-assured retrofits needed to get us to net zero by 2050?
The energy crises of the 1970s did not prompt a major shift in Europe from foreign oil and gas towards energy efficiency and renewables. Will we learn this time around, wonders Dr Marc O Riain
Our abundance of holiday homes and other vacant dwellings could be used to house Ukrainian refugees, writes Mel Reynolds.
Marc O Riain explores how policy on both side of the Atlantic in the 1980s sabotaged a nascent revolution in renewables and energy conservation.
Why is there is such antipathy towards putting ventilation at the forefront of our Covid prevention strategy, asks Residential Ventilation Association of Ireland chair and co-founder David McHugh.
In the #BuildingLife ambassador spotlight series, Passive House Plus is profiling leaders who have endorsed the Irish Green Building Council’s call to address the environmental impacts of buildings across their lifecycle.
With signs that the corporate world may be starting to move from greenwashing to genuinely grappling with sustainability via environmental, social and governance reporting (ESG), will this create opportunities for the widespread adoption of evidence-based sustainable building? Archie O’Donnell, Passive House Association of Ireland board member and environmental manager with i3PT, finds reasons for optimism.
Addressing building life cycle emissions requires much deeper action than is currently planned, says Marion Jammet of the Irish Green Building Council.
Building physics take no prisoners. Anyone designing, constructing or upgrading the thermal envelope of a building to modern energy performance levels is duty bound to understand and minimise thermal bridging, or suffer the consequences. One-man thermal bridging encyclopaedia Andrew Lundberg of Passivate, who teaches thermal bridging analysis at Dublin Institute of Technology, gives some practical advice on why and how to tackle thermal bridging head on, and describes some of the leading innovations in thermally broken components.
19-04-2018 Guides
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.
04-02-2019 Guides
As demand for super-insulated and airtight building structures grows, insulating concrete formwork (ICF) is rapidly gaining popularity as a method of construction. But what exactly is ICF, what are its key advantages, and why is it so well suited to passive house and low energy construction?
16-10-2018 Guides
In the first in a new series of technical articles on some of the key technologies in sustainable building, John Hearne makes the case for wrapping buildings in an external insulation layer, and describes some of the main issues to watch out for.
07-02-2018 Guides