From the Construct Ireland archives

Atop a hill in New Ross, County Wexford, is a beacon for sustainability in large-scale developments, which draws extensively from across the palette of sustainable building options to achieve a building that is notable not just aesthetically, but also in health, energy and environmental impact terms. Jason Walsh visited the new Solar Croi spa, part of the Brandon House Hotel, Health Club and Spa, to find out more.

An experienced timber framer with an eye for detail, Tim O'Donovan set about building a low energy stick-built home in the Cork countryside and achieved a staggering level of airtightness. 
Words: Lenny Antonelli

Number Two Grand Canal Square office, completed in September 2009 and substantially occupied by law firm Byrne Wallace in August this year, set a landmark in commercial office development by combining world-class design with sustainability - reconciling the architecture of Daniel Libeskind with achieving both a Breeam Excellent rating and an A3 BER certificate. Paul Dunne, sustainability and M&E director for Arup, outlines some of the project’s history and its achievements

Ireland — along with much of the western world — relies on the International Energy Agency‘s oil production forecasts. But are they reliable, asks Lenny Antonelli?

Heat recovery ventilation, a technology that has become a standard building application in Scandinavian countries, is rapidly gaining recognition in Ireland as a solution to both problems.

Aine Mc Elhinney discovers that the threat radon poses to private water supply needs addressing to help prevent lung cancer deaths

In the hands of the right architect, meeting the passive house standard needn’t involve compromising on design. Construct Ireland visited a recently certified passive house which shows that a seamless low energy architecture is possible

In the second installment of a new feature on international green buildings, Lenny Antonelli takes a look at four innovative, sustainable and striking buildings from around the world.

It is not alone as an artist and historical author of distinction that Peter Pearson is noted.  His role as a conservationist in the last three decades has had a tangible effect in protecting Ireland’s built heritage, and raising consciousness of the value and importance of conservation work

The Transition Towns movement has recently come to the fore as a model for sustainable development, with communities around the world signing up to reduce carbon emissions and build resilience in a world where climate change and energy security are emerging as real threats. Leading eco designer Joseph Little of Joseph Little Architects describes how the recent refurbishment and extension of a Dublin house addresses many of the movement’s concerns.