New passive vet centre opens in Wigan

Veterinarian and passive house enthusiast Chris Copeman, whose £60,000 passive house retrofit was featured in Passive House Plus issue 29, has built a new veterinary practice in Wigan that is aiming to meet the passive house standard.

Time to move to life cycle assessment of our buildings

New regulations over the last decade have substantially cut operational energy use in buildings, and with more building product manufacturers now publishing environmental data on their products, now is the time to move towards in-depth life cycle assessment to reveal the full environmental footprint of our buildings, Pat Barry of the Irish Green Building Council tells Passive House Plus.

Covid may delay Part F competency & validation rules

The Department of Housing is considering short-term changes to ventilation requirements under building regulations due to the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the construction sector, Passive House Plus has learned.

SuperHomes to ramp up retrofit with new EU funding

Tipperary Energy Agency has secured significant new EU funding to further the development of its domestic retrofit programme, SuperHomes Ireland. The latest version of the scheme, dubbed ‘SuperHomes 2030’, is supported by the EU Horizon 2020 programme. The new programme will run for three years.

Partel launches new fire-rated breather membrane

Low energy building product supplier Partel has launched a new premium class of protective flame-retardant breather membrane to the UK market. EXOPERM MONO DURO 200, with a Euroclass B fire rating, is designed for external applications within the low energy building sector.

2020 feels pivotal for passive house - Barry McCarron, PHAI

Passive house veteran Barry McCarron has just taken over as chairperson of the Passive House Association of Ireland for a three-year term. But he believes the unique convergence of national and international events makes 2020 particularly critical for delivering a sustainable built environment.