Events

September’s AECB environmental construction conference seeks to spark debate among industry experts

Industry leaders will gather at University of East Anglia in September to share practical insights on creating buildings that prioritise environmental performance without compromising design quality or occupant comfort.

Climate Change

Climate report warns overheating crisis threatens UK

A newly published landmark study has said thirteen UK areas face severe climate risks as schools brace for ten-week heatwaves.

Events

Sustainable building leaders crowned at Exemplar Awards

The winners of the inaugural Exemplar Sustainable Buildings Awards were announced in London on 25 June, celebrating the Sustainable Development Foundation's 20th anniversary.

New Ejot profile cuts thermal bridging losses by 25mm insulation equivalent

A thermal bridging issue that has long plagued external wall insulation systems at building base levels could be costing homeowners the equivalent of 25 mm of insulation thickness, according to new independent testing.

Build Homes Better updates Isoquick certification to tackle brick support challenge

Build Homes Better has secured an updated KIWA Agrément certificate for its Isoquick insulated foundation system, adding a brick support detail that solves a critical structural requirement set by leading warranty providers including the National House Building Council (NHBC).

Ecological Building Systems expands UK and Irish straw panel construction with EcoCocon deal

EcoCocon, a leading European manufacturer of prefabricated straw wall panels, has announced a new, exclusive partnership with Ecological Building Systems, making EcoCocon's innovative straw-based wall system more accessible to professionals across the UK and Irish construction markets.

Focus on better buildings, not better spreadsheets

Does the sustainable building industry prioritise spreadsheets over real-world performance? And what is the upshot of this? These are the questions Will Kirkman, managing director of Ecomerchant is putting to the sector.

Feature

Flat earth

What do you do when a building type is inefficient, common, hard to treat – and often used to house vulnerable people? Chris Morgan of leading passive house architects John Gilbert Architects tells the story of an extraordinary pilot project that may show the way to solve the stickiest of problems.

Feature

Material matters - A palette for a vulnerable planet

In recent years, the drive to reduce the embodied carbon of buildings has led to a resurgent interest in timber and other biobased building materials. But peering into the future, if we are to think not just about carbon but also land, water, and regenerating nature, how might we build to meet our essential needs, and what might we build with? By Lenny Antonelli and Andy Simmonds

Upgrade

Derelict to dream home

A couple breathes new life into a set of historic barns, creating an Enerphit dream home in the Gloucestershire countryside.

International

Big picture - Points of access to resilient living

Mike Eliason, architect, founder of Larch Lab and author of the must read Building for People, reflects on how a series of personal and global crises – from pandemic lockdowns and climate disasters to urban housing challenges – shaped his mission to bring sustainable, community-focused, and climateadaptive neighbourhoods to North America.

New build

Storm breaker

Five years ago, a fabric first trailblazer took a dose of his own medicine – and delivered a family home that combines climate action, comfort, cost-effectiveness and resilience in the face of a record-breaking storm.

Insight

Reimagining the architect

It’s a radical idea: that to negate the environmental damage of construction, we don’t just need to build sustainably, we need to build less. However, most architects and building designers earn a living by doing exactly the opposite: by building stuff. So how can the design practice be reinvented for a world in which we need to do more with much, much less?

Feature

Pump up the volume

Forgive the 80s hip hop house reference in the headline, but the volume of the walls in this volumetric modular school building in Birr was literally pumped up – with recycled newspaper insulation. Built to passive house principles, it’s a story of one Roscommon manufacturer reimagining the role that offsite methods can play in the delivery of highly sustainable permanent accommodation for schools – while delivering exceptionally low embodied carbon results. Additional words - Jeff Colley

New build

Just what the doctor ordered

What do you get when a clinician couple decide to build their dream family home? In the skilled hands of leading Scottish architects Paper Igloo, you get a forensically detailed, highly ecological, cosy home that wraps up low embodied carbon and passive house into a beautiful design.

Energy poverty and electric heating

As electricity decarbonises, the case for switching from fossil fuel boilers to efficient use of electricity to heat buildings via heat pumps has become overwhelming. But in markets like the UK where electricity is far more expensive than the European average, and people on low incomes may be chronically underheating poorly insulated homes, could a drive to electrify heating exacerbate energy poverty?

Three books and a taxi ride

Peter Rickaby looks back on an extraordinary career, the challenge of convincing people of the need for a new approach to buildings, and the people who helped him to do just that.

The transformative power of industrialised retrofit

The retrofit market is messy, scuppered by knowledge and skills gaps, and inconsistent approaches. Ele George makes the case for industrialisation to level up the retrofit market.

Tripling EU / UK Energy Efficiency Policy: the NZEB

One of Europe’s key climate breakthroughs came in the form of the EU’s nearly zero energy building target, as Dr. Marc Ó Riain explains in the latest part of his series on the history of low energy building.

The PH+ guide to overheating

As awareness of the urgency of the climate crisis grows, efforts to kickstart en masse deep energy efficiency interventions are gathering apace. But poorly conceived low energy building efforts can lead to unintended consequences including overheating – a risk that’s bound to grow as the world warms up. Phi Architecture co-founder Claire Jamieson details the risks and offers some solutions on how to create low energy buildings that are comfortable in summer and winter.

The PH+ guide to greener concrete - reducing the climate impact of cement and concrete in buildings

Cement is responsible for up to 8% of global carbon emissions, and in this guide, sustainable design expert Jay Stuart looks at ways to minimise its environmental impact through good design, and at some of the alternative, lower carbon cement and concrete products on the market.

Timber frame & mass timber: the Passive House Plus guide to structural timber construction

Fuelled by the need to build quickly and to increasingly tight sustainability standards, the market for timber frame and mass timber construction is growing rapidly. This detailed guide covers many of the main established and emerging techniques, and looks at key issues to address if you’re considering a timber-based build.

The PH+ guide to heat recovery ventilation

Heat recovery ventilation is an invaluable way to maintain indoor air quality in low energy buildings and minimise the loss of precious heat, but there are several issues to address to ensure optimal performance. Ventilation expert Ian Mawditt, a technical advisor on Part F of England’s building regulations, has decades of experience in field investigations of indoor air quality and ventilation effectiveness. His guide, which focuses on centralised or ducted whole house heat recovery systems, is essential reading to anyone considering such a system.