Woodfibre insulation specialist, NBT, is on target for a 50 per cent growth in sales volumes for 2018, indicating that specifiers are increasingly selecting woodfibre for its thermal performance, year-round comfort and moisture dispersion properties.
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.
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.
“Only if we are capable of dwelling, only then can we build.”
- Heidegger
Property Bridges, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Dangerous overheating in buildings may not be showing up in desktop studies, new research suggests.
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.
