Change habits to tackle climate change, passive house conference hears

Changing habits was a big theme at the 21st International Passive House Conference, which was held in Vienna on 28 and 29 April, with leading climate researcher Helga Kromp-Kolb telling delegates that adopting new habits and sharing resources fairly were both crucial to tackling climate change.

Angela Merkel opens €50m Viessmann innovation centre

German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the Viessmann Group’s new technological research and development centre in Allendorf, Germany on 12 April. The €50 million investment by Viessmann, one of the leading international manufacturers of heating, industrial and refrigeration systems, sets a milestone in interdisciplinary development and innovation, the company said.

An avoidable tragedy: questions for the public inquiry on Grenfell Tower

On 13 June, in an address about retrofit policy to the joint conference of the Sustainable Traditional Buildings Alliance and the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, I suggested that the UK retrofit industry is dangerously incompetent, and that is why we need to implement the Each Home Counts industry review. Little did I know that in less than twenty-four hours those words would come back to haunt me in the most horrific way, writes Dr Peter Rickaby.