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Given the decline in new build construction and the increasing demand for greater energy efficiency in existing homes, there is a major opportunity to bring about significant improvements in the energy performance of the existing Irish housing stock, according to Professor Owen Lewis, Chief Executive, Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI).

The Government has published a €4.5bn plan for sustainable transport to 2020. The Smarter Travel plan sets out Irelands travel policy for Ireland from now until 2020.

Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) and the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland (RIAI) will host 'See the Light 2009 - Energy Efficient Buildings, How Low Can We Go', a conference on energy efficient buildings on Wednesday 4 and Thursday 5 February in the Ardilaun Hotel, Galway.

 

Over 40 per cent of architects employed in January 2008 will have lost their jobs by March according to a survey conducted by Millward Brown IMS for the Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland (RIAI).

More carbon dioxide needs to be absorbed than emitted by 2050 in order to prevent catastrophic climate change.

Energy minister Eamon Ryan is preparing to go to Brussels for an energy ministerial meeting next Monday should the Ukraine/Russian gas dispute continue. “While this is a serious situation, Ireland remains unaffected by the dispute at this time” he said. The minister said that his department, the energy regulator and Bord Gáis are closely monitoring developments as they unfold.

 

THE GOVERNMENT is being urged to take a much more pro-active approach to architecture by appointing a State architect to advise on policy and permitting local authorities to hire their own architects.

Thirteen workers at Roadstone in Arklow, Co Wicklow, were made redundant yesterday as the company closed the stone crushing plant at the quarry.

THE DECISION by An Bord Pleanála to approve scaled-down plans by Arnotts for its ambitious "Northern Quarter" development brings into focus again the conflicting views on plans for tall buildings in Dublin.

THE GOVERNMENT has invested almost €40 million to date in carbon-reduction projects that will help Ireland meet its Kyoto commitments.

THE GOVERNMENT has invested almost €40 million to date in carbon-reduction projects that will help Ireland meet its Kyoto commitments.

€9m for developers of A2 rated housing

A major forum of over 300 building industry professionals was told today that significant upskilling is required across the industry if government targets for the energy performance of buildings are to be achieved. The event, ‘Sustainable Architecture Now’, was organised by Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) in association with the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) and the Office of Public Works (OPW).

New third-level unit to research energy and environmental issues.

Delegates at a seminar in Cork on Thursday will hear results of an energy audit of social housing schemes across Ireland. Attendance is free and a limited number of spaces are still available.

The Department of the Environment and the Irish Architecture Foundation are to hold a series of public meetings to consult on new architecture policy, which will put more emphasis on environmental sustainability.

Aervent-Lindab offers higher BER ratings through SAP approval on heat recovery ventilation.

Oil supply increases but prices remain high

Irish group attends passive house event in Germany

The fourth meeting of the "Gleneagles dialogue" on global warming ended last week with no sign of a consensus on a new global climate policy after the Kyoto protocol on greenhouse gas emissions expires in 2012.

MAYO councillors are confident that their bid to overhaul planning rules in rural Mayo will stand up to scrutiny from the Minister for the Environment.

AN TAISCE is opposing the construction of a new €160 million women's, children's and maternity hospital in Sandyford.

A DEVELOPMENT society in Derrybrien, Co Galway, scene of a massive bogslide in 2003, has won its High Court challenge to the manner in which Galway County Council extended planning permissions for the erection of a wind farm on a mountain in the area.

Dublin City Council's decision to grant permission for a high-rise cluster in Ballsbridge has no real basis in planning policy, writes Frank McDonald .

CAMPAIGNERS AGAINST the M3 motorway claim they have stepped up their campaign by occupying a tunnel they say they have secretly dug under the proposed route that passes through the Tara Valley in Co Meath.

Dublin City Council's split decision on Seán Dunne's extremely expensive Ballsbridge site has left the developer facing an uncertain future, writes Frank McDonald.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern warned of a "hard year" ahead as the economy took a severe battering on three fronts yesterday.

Coolpower Products has launched EMMA, their patented energy and micro-generator manager that maximises the value of energy generated by grid-connected micro-generators and minimises the amount and cost of energy imported from the grid.