Passive ‘Sure House’ wins US Solar Decathlon

Stevens Institute of Technology won top honours overall at the US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015 by designing, building, and operating the most  cost-effective, energy efficient, and attractive solar powered house at the competition. Dubbed ‘Sure House’, the building also meets passive house standards for heating demand and airtightness and features heat recovery ventilation.

Learn to build passive with Saint-Gobain this autumn

The Passive House Academy, in association with Saint-Gobain, will run a Passive House Tradesperson course on 21 and 22 October at the Saint-Gobain Technical Academy in Erith, Kent. The course will cover passive house design principles, U-value calculations, thermal bridging and airtightness, insulation materials, passive house glazing, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery systems, and much more.

Tipp Energy Agency launches Superhomes retrofit scheme  

Tipperary Energy Agency has announced the launch of its Superhomes pilot project, which is seeking 20 suitable homes anywhere in Ireland to undertake an energy retrofit. The works will be financed by the Better Energy Scheme and run in conjunction with AIB and Electric Ireland.

UK Passivhaus Awards winners announced

The winners of the Passivhaus Trust's 2015 UK Passivhaus Awards were announced at a ceremony in London on Wednesday night. The awards aim to celebrate the design and performance of passive house buildings in the UK. 

Showcase presents low energy German-Irish projects

Last week, the German-Irish Chamber of Commerce showcased five Irish low energy building projects that incorporated German energy effiiciency technology. The projects include a certified passive house, a radiant heating ceiling system, and two CHP units. 

Seven projects receive international Passive House Award

Building with an eye to energy efficiency is not only cost-effective, it can also augment architectural design. This has been proven by the winners of the 2014 Passive House Award. Six buildings and one region were recognised today at the opening of the International Passive House Conference in Aachen: an apartment block in Berlin; a New York retrofit; a seminar building in Goesan, South Korea; an art museum in Ravensburg, Germany; a building complex in Espoo, Finland; a terraced house in Philadelphia; and an entire passive house district in Heidelberg.

Better Building conference hears commercial property warning

Last week's Better Building conference in Dublin heard from experts speaker on the present and future of the construction industry in Ireland. Topics at this year’s conference pushed the building industry to think beyond energy efficiency and consider full life cycle costs of materials, transportation issues, and living buildings.

Better Building to mix green architecture, policy debate & networking

The Better Building Conference returns for a 3rd year on 9 April at Croke Park Dublin with a genuinely exciting line up of inspiring case studies of future innovations and essential information on the new building control regulations. This full day conference is packed with presentations and panel discussions in three parallel streams and has plenty of important networking opportunities. Don't miss out on what has genuinely become one of the key events in Ireland's construction calendar. Click here to view the full programme, and click here to register now.