Irish news - passivehouseplus.co.uk

Europe’s burgeoning green homes market is a multi-trillion euros opportunity – but lenders must be wary of facilitating greenwashing, a pan-European consortium has warned.

Gas cooking is killing 40,000 European people a year in Europe, a major new study has revealed, with an average of almost two years taken off their life in the EU and United Kingdom due to exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emitted during gas cooking.The countries with the highest burden were Italy, Poland, Romania, France and the UK.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland has launched a home energy upgrade for traditional homes pilot.

Multi-award winning Belfast-based property developer, Fraser Millar, has launched Northern Ireland’s second large-scale residential passive house development – a 74-unit scheme of detached and semi-detached homes at a total project value of £30m.

Irish construction professionals seeking to upskill in sustainability can avail of 80% grants – through short courses on a wide range of subjects linked to energy efficiency, the circular economy and digital skills for sustainable building.

A number of Ireland’s largest house builders are turning to the passive house standard, to meet the need for proven approaches to delivering high performance sustainable buildings.

Irish homeowners can now borrow €5,000 to €75,000 at significantly lower interest rates to retrofit their homes, thanks to a new €500m government-backed scheme.

All new homes in Europe must meet binding embodied carbon reduction targets and produce zero on site emissions by 2030, due to changes led by Irish Green Party MEP Ciarán Cuffe.

Highly polluting cements are to be ruled out of public sector projects in Ireland from September, due to new government public procurement rules.

Aidan Doyle has joined insulation manufacturer, Unilin Insulation, as General Manager for both the Ireland and UK businesses.

Businesses involved in the supply chain for low energy building or retrofit in Ireland take note: there are a number of must see events at the Energy Show in Dublin.

Home buyers seeking sustainable luxury and energy income in a sought-after part of England have a rare opportunity with a newly launched passive house scheme in St Albans.

Green home certifications and mortgage products must align with new EU rules on green finance, the pan-European Smarter Finance for EU consortium has warned.

Increasing the use of timber in construction is central to the work of a new steering group appointed by the Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Senator Pippa Hackett.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has announced the winners of the 2023 SEAI Energy Awards while celebrating 20 years of the event.

A quartet of passive house projects picked up awards at the Towards Net Zero Energy Awards 2023.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a national air quality forecast to provide greater information to the public regarding expected air quality in Ireland for up to three days.

The implications of planning on Ireland’s carbon emissions and the importance of building climate-safe homes were discussed at the Irish Green Building Council’s (IGBC) annual residential conference, Better Homes.

The next version of the EU Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings (EPBD) has been provisionally agreed – including proposals for zero emission buildings, building renovation passports, a phase out of fossil fuel boilers and the introduction of whole life carbon calculation for buildings.

In this #BuildingLife Ambassador Spotlight Series, Passive House Plus is profiling leaders who have endorsed the Irish Green Building Council’s (IGBC) call to address the environmental impacts of buildings across their lifecycle.

Ireland and the European Investment Bank (EIB) today reached an agreement that paves the way for government-backed, low-interest home energy upgrade loans. The agreement marks a major milestone in the development of the loan scheme which will be underpinned by resources from the EIB Group.

The Irish government has been called on to overhaul VAT structure in order to incentivise reuse and refurbishment, by construction industry body The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), who say urgent action is needed to reduce the number of Ireland’s buildings being demolished if the country is to meet net zero targets.

Research, led by Technological University of the Shannon, has identified significant skills and labour shortages in the built environment sector. The study highlights how this challenges Ireland in reaching its climate targets and points out possible solutions.

The real estate industry faces a ‘triple threat’ of climate related issues unless it takes action now, a senior sustainability expert has warned.

The week of live and online events will show how to accelerate our transition to a more sustainable and resource efficient built environment

A pioneering co-housing scheme, a cube-shaped self build, a cork and polyester- insulated retrofit to a 1970s house, a glulam timber school, and a curved college building were the winners at the 2023 UK Passivhaus Awards.

Construct Innovate, the University of Galway- hosted national research centre for construction technology and innovation, has announced Technological University Dublin as a new academic member and thirty-five companies as the first associate members.

The Irish Green Building Council (IGBC) has launched a new Community of Practice (CoP) on biodiversity and the built environment.

Seán Balfe, director of NSAI Agrément, has been suspended, Passive House Plus understands.

A new European project focussed on accelerating the roll-out of certified green homes – including the development of green mortgages, loans and development finance – has been launched.