Ireland - passivehouseplus.ie

The Irish Independent reported earlier in the week that the Irish construction sector is set for a stimulus package in next week's budget, including a cut to the 13.5% rate of Vat. 

Construction has begun on what is expected to be Ireland's first certified passive house pharmacy. The project in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, was designed by Paul McNally Architecture.

Wolfgang Feist, one of the creators of the passive house concept and a founder and director of the Passive House Institute, will speak in Dublin on 25 October at the 2013 See The Light conference.

Check out this video from Saint Gobain on their technical academy in Kingscourt, Co Cavan. The academy showcases the company's products and provides training in their application. The company said that video is designed to provide an insight into the kind of courses that are available — most of which are free, and contain a mix of theory and hands-on training. Saint Gobain's brands included Isover, Gyproc and Weber.

Over 100 experts in ultra low energy building will address the International Passive House Conference, which takes place in Frankfurt this weekend. Speakers will present a wide range of case studies and research that, according to the Passive House Institute, demonstrates that passive house works "in all climates and for practically any type of building".

The second Better Building conference will be held on 24 April in the Croke Park conference centre, Dublin. The inaugural conference at Royal Hospital Kilmainham last year sold out with nearly 400 attendees.

We tip our proverbial hats to Cork-based timber frame manufacturer Eco Timber Frame who have posted time-lapse video of one of their recent passive house projects online.

Isover Ireland held their annual Energy Efficiency Awards in Dublin on Friday 1 March in Dublin. The awards recognise low energy renovation and new build projects in both the residential and commercial sectors. Isover award ceremonies are held in individual countries, with national winners going forward to Isover's European Energy Efficiency Awards. At the Dublin ceremony, Isover announced that the 2014 European awards will take place in Ireland.

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.

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".

Leading green architect Miles Sampson and contractor Niall Dolan of GreenTec Homes have joined forces to launch Quality Eco Homes, a new company that will offer complete sustainable design and build service.

Galway-based passive house specialists Scandinavian Homes has just completed their 51st Irish project to the passive house standard, at Spiddal, Co Galway. The company's Lars Pettersson told Passive House Plus magazine that there's never been a more cost-effective time to build a passive house. 

Green cement supplier Ecocem are giving away €3,000 of low carbon durable concrete in a competition for residential construction projects. 

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.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has introduced estimated running costs for heat pumps into its monthly domestic fuel costs report. 

The figures for July released by SEAI now include a section on electricity used by heat pumps, highlighting the difference in operating costs for heat pump technology over other fuels for the first time.

Construct Ireland is to be renamed Passive House Plus, with separate editions published for the Irish and UK markets.

The first issue of Passive House Plus will be published as an Ireland only edition in October, with separate Irish and UK editions set to be published early in 2013.

Bord Gáis has ceased offering home insulation products and boiler installations through its Home Team division due to a drop off in demand. The company will continue to offer boiler servicing and repair.

The move reflects the recent nationwide decline in home energy upgrades, a trend that is investigated in the new issue of Construct Ireland.

Less than a third of new Irish homes meet energy efficiency and carbon emissions regulations, according to new figures. The number of new homes meeting the rules has also declined dramatically since 2005, according to data released by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland.

Dr Brian Motherway has been appointed chief executive officer of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). Motherway joined SEAI in 2006 and has recently held the role of chief operations officer. He holds bachelor and master's degrees in chemical engineering and a PhD in Sociology.

The Central Bank's reported €8m bid for the site on which the defunct Anglo Irish Bank's ghost HQ sits may be double the market value, it has been claimed.

Architect Paschal Mahoney – who is heading up the innovative Trees on the Quays proposal to create a landmark vertical park from the iconic concrete shell for the Anglo HQ – had an independent valuation of the site done as part of a proposal to turn the defunct structure into a symbol and catalyst of Ireland's regeneration.

"I've heard from several sources that people have valued it and the price the Central Bank are offering may be about twice the actual value," Mahoney told Construct Ireland. "We've had it independently valued too. The price being offered is almost twice what the valuers have told us its worth. The taxpayer would be paying €8m for something we already own."

The government has launched a public consultation on its proposed new building control regulations. Environment minister Phil Hogan announced the new rules last year following the high profile failure of the Priory Hall development in Dublin to meet fire regulations, but details have just been released.

Leading Irish timber frame manufacturer Cygnum is launching a pioneering closed low embodied carbon panelised building system that integrates cellulose insulation.

The Precision system has been developed by the company to drive down the costs of a building system that’s becoming increasingly popular due to its thermal performance, healthiness and low environmental impact.

Fuel poverty has “come of age” in the last 3 years and great strides have been made in understanding the scale of the problem, Christine Liddell, professor of psychology at Ulster University, said in her keynote address to the Energy Action conference in Dublin Castle on Monday, 6 February.

Citing British research as an example, she stressed that any investment made in tackling fuel poverty would be recouped by the state.

The government has published its draft national action plan on green public procurement (GPP). Environment minister Phil Hogan said the plan, when finalised later this year, will apply to all personnel involved in procurement across the public sector.

The plan aims to ensure the government purchases sustainable products and services in areas such as construction, energy, food and transport.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has opened entries for the eighth all-island Sustainable Energy Awards. Sponsored by ESB Electric Ireland, the awards honour individuals and organisations that "demonstrate excellence in sustainable energy practices".

The competition is open to private and public sector organisations of all sizes throughout the island of Ireland.

Ireland's first passive house development emerged as the big winner at the first inaugural Isover Energy Efficiency Awards in Dublin on Friday. The Grange Lough project — by developer Michael Bennett and Shoalwater Timber Frame — won first place in the competition and will now go on to Isover's European awards in Barcelona this June. This is the first time Ireland will be represented at the finals.

Renewable energy in Ireland grew by an average of 15% per annum from 2005 to 2009 driven largely by a significant growth in wind energy of 28% per annum in that period, according to SEAI's latest Energy in Ireland report. Last year also witnessed a steady trend towards lower energy prices in Ireland for both domestic and business energy users.

Energy minister Eamon Ryan has said that formal preparations for a European electricity supergrid have begun.
 
In Brussels today, energy ministers from ten European countries signed an agreement on the North Seas Countries Offshore Grid Initiative, which will aim to develop a supergrid in northern Europe, increase the amount of renewable energy produced in the Europe's northern seas and facilitate large scale offshore wind projects.

The ESB has launched Halo, the utility's new home energy upgrade and efficiency service. The Halo Installation Service is designed as a "one-stop solution" for home energy upgrades, the company said.