From the Construct Ireland archives

The winner of the sustainability award at the 2011 Irish Architecture awards, Roebuck Castle student residence at UCD’s Belfield campus is also the biggest certified passive house project built to date in Ireland and the UK. Tony Rigg of Kavanagh Tuite Architects explains how such a significant building achieved passive results.

The building is the first all timber office complex in Ireland. It covers almost 2,300m2 of floor space and provides accommodation for almost 100 staff working in a wide range of forestry related disciplines.

Ireland's largest passive house development to date, Shanganagh Castle, is proof that with proper planning and collaboration, delivering high density housing doesn’t mean compromising on quality or climate action – without increasing costs or causing delays.

For the first time in several years, 2007 will see a budget deficit in Ireland so the question must be asked: where does this leave state aid for sustainable building? Construct Ireland’s Jeff Colley and Jason Walsh propose a new approach to improving the energy efficiency of existing homes that might even fix a few of the difficulties seen in the last eighteen months

Sustainable Dundalk housing project designed to prolong the independence of older residents

The government is aiming to energy upgrade one million buildings by 2020, but huge investment will be needed to reach that goal as finance expert Jack O’Keeffe of Larchmont Consulting explains

A striking new house in County Cork proves that meeting the passive house standard needn’t mean sacrificing good design

The first scheme of renewable energy grants for Irish homeowners, the Greener Homes Scheme, was launched on Monday 27th March 2006 and will make grant funding available to homeowners looking to install renewable energy heating technology

As the main attraction at the Spring House and Garden Show in the RDS earlier this year, the “Eco House” claimed to offer the house buying public an entirely ecologically sound new home, with considerations for energy efficiency, the environment and health evident in the design, structure, materials and technologies showcased in the house. Construct Ireland spoke to the house’s architect, John Goulding and Director of Century Homes, Paul MacDonald, who explain not only the technological considerations but the environmental demand for such a project.

John Goulding, the architect on the Eco House, has been actively involved in researching energy efficient design for the past 18 years, working through UCD’s influential Energy Research Group, and has worked on several European Commission funded research and building demonstration projects. He explains to Construct Ireland’s Jeff Colley how the Eco House performs.

A cursory browse through Dublin Civic Trusts website and one is all too quickly reminded of the constant threat to our Architectural heritage