Roof window manufacturer Fakro has announced the award of a Passive House Institute certificate for its quadruple-glazed FTT U8 Thermo roof window, which has a U-value of 0.58.

Ecocem Ireland announced last week that its plans to create 61 jobs as part of a new three year, €19m investment programme coinciding with the official opening of its new facility at Dublin Port. The new plant will be used to bag Ecocem’s low carbon cement. The company said that the carbon footprint of its product is more than 50% lower than traditional cement.

Professor Wolfgang Feist has been awarded an honorary fellowship by the Royal Institute of British Architects. The award ceremony took place on 6 February.

The Passive House Institute has announced that it certified 134 products last year, a new record. These components included everything from sliding doors and dome lights to balcony systems.

Baumit will showcase an "innovative" new external thermal insulation technology on 5-7 March at EcoBuild 2013 in Excel, London. The Baumit OPEN external wall insulation (EWI) system is a thin coat render system for solid wall construction.

With the deadline fast approaching, the bulk of the editorial content for our inaugural UK edition has been confirmed. Curiosity getting the better of you? The following issue overview may make the anticipation unbearable…

Nu Flow Ireland recently completed a successful sewage pipe retrofit project in Cork which the company said helped to avoid major disruption to five local properties, and yielded various environmental benefits too.

We’re delighted to announce that Passive House Plus has won the business magazine of the year award at the 2012 Irish Magazine Awards.

The judges of the awards – which were announced at a swanky event at Dublin’s Clyde Court Hotel in December – cited the magazine’s "high editorial and design standards” and “commitment to audience engagement”.

Welcome to the website of Passive House Plus, an award winning magazine about building and upgrading to the highest standards of energy efficiency, health, comfort and sustainability. At the time of writing the site has been published as a beta version, and can be viewed on PCs, laptops or tablets, with formatting for smart phones set to follow imminently. 

The Passive House Association of Ireland has called on the government to adopt the passive house standard as the national minimum building standard for Ireland, and to support "a series of passive house exemplary buildings across the country".