EU project aims to accelerate market for green homes
A new European project focussed on
accelerating the roll-out of certified green
homes – including the development of green
mortgages, loans and development finance – has
been launched.
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UN pushes for radical sustainable building action
The United Nations is pushing for a rapid drive to make the world’s buildings sustainable
– aided by an international coalition centred in the Wexford town of Enniscorthy.
Healthy Homes Ireland launches indoor environmental quality report
Healthy Homes Ireland (HHI) has
published a series of recommendations
for the improvement of
indoor environmental quality (IEQ), including
the creation of a cross-disciplinary
national leadership body that will advocate
for change and set goals.
Safety net
At times the need to put roofs over the heads of vulnerable people and the need to tackle
climate change and unsustainable resource use can seem in direct opposition. But one new
Welsh scheme shows that doesn’t have to be the case.
Phit the bill
A passive house, by its nature, requires a much smaller amount of energy than a typical home, and when its heating demand is met by electricity, and you cover it in solar PV panels, you can start to see the potential for a whole new generation of passive homes that are semi-independent of the electricity grid. This is the case for Carrstone House in Bedfordshire, which generates so much solar energy it had to be registered as a power station.
A grid of their own
A new development in County Wicklow demonstrates how typical housing estates might be turned into electricity microgrids through solar power and battery storage, with residents buying and selling renewable energy from each other, helping to insulate them from price spikes and outages.
Passive Power
A passive house, by its nature, requires a much smaller amount of energy than a typical home, and when its heating demand is met by electricity, and you cover it in solar PV panels, you can start to see the potential for a whole new generation of passive homes that are semiindependent of the electricity grid. This is the case for Carrstone House in Bedfordshire, which generates so much solar energy it had to be registered as a power station.
Passive house pioneer wins net zero champion award
Passive house expert Tomas O’Leary has been heralded for his decades of low energy building pioneering – picking up the Net Zero Champion Award at the inaugural Towards Net Zero Awards at the RDS in November.
Mainstreaming retrofit – a massive missed opportunity
The scale of the retrofit challenge facing the UK and Ireland will require an army of
tradespeople to upgrade homes – leading many to the conclusion that a new retrofit
industry needs to be built from scratch. But is a more realistic answer staring us in the face
– a thriving existing industry of trusted local tradespeople, asks Dr Catrin Maby OBE.
Does nuclear have a role to play in decarbonising energy?
One zero carbon energy source has historically been vehemently opposed by
environmentalists. But can nuclear power overcome the high-profile failures of its past, asks Dr. Marc O Riain, or has the technology missed the boat?
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Whole life carbon of buildings: a pathway emerges
While significant progress continues to be made on reducing the carbon emissions associated with heating and powering buildings, the other part of whole life carbon calculation, embodied carbon, has proved more elusive. But that may be about to change, and quickly, as Stephen Barrett of the Irish Green Building Council (IGBC) explains.
It's a lovely house to live in now
How do you take a painfully cold, unhealthy house and make
it comfortable and affordable to heat? Five years ago, one Irish
family decided enough was enough, and took decisive action
to transform their period property into a cosy, healthy home
where the heating system ticks along without the homeowners
touching it.
Northern comfort
In trickier housing markets, the instincts of house builders have often tended towards building to the worst legal standards required – or worse. One award-winning new project in Belfast’s suburbs is showing that it doesn’t have to be this way – and that developers can thrive by pitching homes designed to ensure comfort and low bills at increasingly energy-conscious consumers.
Quantity and quality - can it be done?
The spectre of high rise and reduced spacing between homes may cast a proverbial and literal shadow over new homes, if an anticipated government policy comes to pass. Mel Reynolds asks: could passive house offer a new route to achieving higher density without reaching for the skies?