How can period properties be made fit for the demands of the 21st century, without pushing the building too far? One University of Cambridge retrofit project may have the answer, harnessing multidisciplinary expertise to balance energy, moisture and space constraints.
Additional reporting by Jeff Colley.
Contrary to popular belief, passive house isn’t about maximisation of passive solar gains. It’s about optimisation, balancing free winter heat with avoiding summer overheating. But on a site that seemed hellbent on denying sunlight, every last ray has been stolen to somehow deliver not just a passive house, but a net zero energy home.
Additional reporting: Jeff Colley
As summers get hotter and air conditioning becomes more common, the question is no longer just how well buildings perform in a heatwave — it is how people will actually use them. Dr Huda Elsherif, building physics engineer at Scotch Partners, explores the hidden politics of thermal comfort.
An Edinburgh-steeped couple wanted Georgian grandeur in a Cork city infill. Their architect obliged, wrapping double-height spaces and oversized glazing in a climate-responsive envelope that shrugs off Irish winters. Additional reporting: Jeff Colley
Gordon Bunshaft's Banque Lambert has presided over Boulevard Marnix since 1964, a listed modernist landmark facing the King's Palace, its celebrated precast concrete exoskeleton as distinctive today as the day it was built.
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.
The UK's leading sustainable construction event is co-locating with two other shows in May.
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.
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.
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.
Pioneering ecological offsite manufacturer PYC Construction has carried out a targeted test to establish whether panel fixings penetrating an airtight board layer affect airtightness performance, and found they make no measurable difference.
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.
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.
The Irish Green Building Council (IGBC) has launched Home Performance Pathway, a new certification for small home builders to deliver high quality, healthy and environmentally sustainable homes.
The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has confirmed that work on transposing the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive into Irish law is continuing, but has not yet stated a timeline for aligning Part L of the building regulations with the directive's zero-emission building standard.
The Association for Environment Conscious Building (AECB) is recruiting an executive director in what the organisation describes as a rare opportunity to shape the future of sustainable construction in the UK
Irish energy consultancy 2eva is set to run a two-day professional training course for air tightness testers this spring, aimed at both newcomers to the discipline and experienced practitioners looking to formalise their skills, as well as timed to meet what the company sees as growing demand for qualified testers in Ireland.