Martin Holladay has posted a very good guide to the basics of low energy building & retrofit on GreenBuildingAdvisor.com. He wisely avoids mentioning too much green "bling" and instead focuses on smart design and a well-insulated, air tight envelope. The basic principles? Don't build too big, orient the house correctly, choose the right windows, design an air-tight layer and insulate well.
Published in
Blogs
Jeff Colley
Jeff Colley is the editor of Passive House Plus. He won the Green Leader award at the 2010 Green Awards for his advocacy work on the inclusion of energy ratings in property advertising, and a proposal to finance energy upgrades via utility bills.
He established Construct Ireland (for a sustainable future), Ireland's pioneering sustainable building magazine, in 2003. The magazine evolved into Passive House Plus in late 2012, the world's first English language magazine focused on passive house, as well as other aspects of sustainable building.
He is also a founder of Éasca, (the Environmental and Sustainable Construction Association) , an organisation set up to develop and promote a membership of approved companies offering genuinely sustainable solutions.
He writes a regular column for the Sunday Times, and has authored, co-authored and contributed to articles on sustainable building for numerous newspapers including the Irish Times, The Sunday Business Post, the Irish Examiner & the Sunday Tribune.
passivehouseplus.ie