UK net zero carbon standard accepts passive house as compliance route

Passive house certification has been formally recognised as a deemed-to-satisfy route within the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard at practical completion, in a move which recognises the reliability of the passive house standard as a way delivering significant real world carbon savings.

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 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.

Airflow Adroit MVHR range wins Build It award

A passive house certified mechanical ventilation system with has been named best home technology product or installation at the 2025 Build It Awards.

Ecomerchant completes Kibrasol system with Kibrafix adhesive

Ecomerchant has added to its Kibrasol cork thermal break range with the launch of Kibrafix, a bonding adhesive designed to simplify installation and improve on-site reliability.

Grade II listed building on track for Enerphit after airtightness retrofit

A Grade II listed building on the edge of Birkenhead Park is on track to become what is believed to be the world’s first Enerphit certified listed building, after an airtightness intervention brought it well within the retrofit standard’s threshold.

AECB shapes new PHPP course around member feedback

The Association for Environment Conscious Building (AECB) has developed a new Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) training course designed to respond to what members say they need.

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.

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.