Planning reform will thwart low energy housing, councils say

Britain is failing to address housing as part of the climate emergency, according to a group of 60 local authorities, businesses and civil society groups who say government changes to planning rules could spell the end of zero carbon homes in England.

Lacuna: thermal modification boosts timber utility

Thermally modified timber has been used in the building industry for years, principally as a durable and sustainable cladding material, but its history stretches back millennia.

Passive House Systems wins airtightness certification from PHI

A new airtightness system produced by Passive House Systems has been given the green light by the Passive House Institute, with the UK launch in March 2026.

SkamoWall marketing indicates value of storytelling focus

When SkamoWall arrived in the UK, its Viking-themed advert in Passive House Plus quietly tested a hunch: that storytelling still shapes product choice, even in a technical publication.

Proctor membrane used on landmark Dublin passive scheme

Proctor Group’s Wraptite airtight membrane has been used on one of the largest passive house projects in Ireland, with the self-adhering membrane forming part of the external wall build-up at Cairn Homes’ Pipers Square development in Charlestown, Dublin.

Comfort zone

Cypren Edmunds: “I would outlaw siloed thinking”

In the first instalment of a new feature where we try to get into the heads of prominent people in green building, we asked the president of the European Straw Building Association to peer into the void, peer into his record collection, and peer into the future.

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Accessible Manchester retrofit delivers comfort and low bills

An award-winning retrofit demonstrates that universal design and ultra-low energy performance are powerful allies, not competing priorities.

New build

Ballymore scheme brings low-cost comfort to private market

With 35,000 homes under their belt, one of the UK and Ireland's most prolific developers has just completed its first passive house scheme - aided by an innovative airtightness approach.

Big picture

One family's response to a bushfire

Big Picture - Forrest Passive House in Spotswood achieves certification while maintaining contemporary family functionality through thoughtful material choices and spatial planning.

Feature

Mass appeal

An architect’s four-year quest to build his family home on a Dublin laneway demonstrates how mass timber can maximize space and character in the tightest urban sites – with award-winning results, and fascinating performance insights.Additional reporting by Jeff Colley

Insight

Embody language

With an increasing emphasis on the electrification of heat as the electricity grid decarbonises, interest in reducing the embodied carbon of buildings is growing. But does a focus on embodied carbon alone risk giving needlessly energy intensive ways of making buildings a free pass? In the first of a new series of articles, Dr Lois Hurst journeys into understanding embodied and life cycle impacts in construction.

Feature

Peaky blinder

From frozen tea to thermal bliss: energy specialist Esmond Tresidder transformed his leaky 1970s Highland home into one of the highest performing retrofits ever featured in these pages, combining academic knowledge with hands-on retrofit innovation to create a comfortable, healthy family haven with breathtaking views of Ben Nevis, proving that even Scotland’s most challenging climates are no match for passive house principles.

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History repeating

Through passion, patience, and architectural expertise, a 16th century Carmel-ite friar’s cottage in Kinsale, owned by Passive House Plus columnist Dr Marc Ó Riain, has achieved what many thought impossible— an A1 energy rating for a Tudor-era building. But not without challenges.

In 2099, it never rains, but it pours

The familiar North Atlantic drizzle may be giving way to more forceful, building-battering rain. A new study warns of shifting patterns that will test the resilience of structures, writes Toby Cambray.

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.

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.