ZEB Summit celebrates Irish passive progress

This article was originally published in issue 50 of Passive House Plus magazine. Want immediate access to all back issues and exclusive extra content? Click here to subscribe for as little as €15, or click here to receive the next issue free of charge

Hosted by Mosart, the ZEB Summit 2025 convened over three days at the RDS Dublin, drawing architects, engineers, policymakers and industry leaders from across Ireland and beyond. From an International Delegates pre summit workshop on 29 April, through the technical workshops and site tour of Cairn Homes’ Pipers Square scheme on 30 April, to the Main Event on 1 May, Mosart said the summit stood as a firm testament to Ireland’s leadership in zero emission buildings.

The pre-summit workshop included a presentation from Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown county architect Andrée Dargan on the 550-unit passive public housing project at Shanganagh Castle, featured in this issue of Passive House Plus. Following the workshop, delegates travelled to the National Construction Training Campus at Mount Lucas for an in‑depth, practical workshop on the critical skills needed to deliver zero-emission buildings. Attendees saw firsthand how Ireland is actively training its construction workforce to meet ambitious performance standards through hands‑on, purpose-built training infrastructure.

Passive House Institute joint MD Jessica Grove-Smith.

On 30 April, participants were given a series of practical demos led by Mosart MD Tomás O’Leary and Ecological Building Systems, before boarding a bus to Cairn Homes’ Pipers Square to inspect first fix frames and finished passive apartments.

The Main Event on 1 May unfolded across two stages and a workshop room, with highlights including UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change vice-chair Prof Diana Ürge Vorsatz on transforming buildings from carbon liabilities into carbon sinks, and RIBA president-elect Chris Williamson on challenging architectural practice to confront the climate emergency.

Mosart MD Tomás O’Leary.

The event was supported by a range of sponsors including Cairn Homes, Dublin City Council, SOLAS, Kernohan Distribution, NorDan, Ecological Building Systems and Partel.