Open Source Content Management

The 2014 UK Passivhaus conference, held this year in Stevenage, was, like the previous such events, completely packed. Discussion centred around fine tuning of financing, delivery and performance — and on how to bring the wider construction sector on board the passive house agenda.

I believe the children are our future, as the stomach-churningly saccharine song line goes. If the emerging evidence from recent Irish 2nd level exam papers are anything to go by, the construction studies teachers share that sentiment, and are ensuring that the next generation of Irish designers and contractors will have a detailed understanding of how to design and construct passive houses.

What’s not to like about building regulations that demand 60% energy savings compared to boom time standards, and mandate the use of renewable energy? Glitches in the guidance documents, that’s what – glitches that unwittingly disincentivise energy efficiency best practice and risk causing building damage and compromising occupant health.

In this blog post, Paul Doran recalls the challenges and lessons of building a low energy home on a tight budget for his family. 

Having spent a year and a half doing research into what houses we should be building in the 21st century, I have never ventured far from the Passive House standard. The reason for this is that it makes sense! That's not to say that I haven't come across criticism.

Airtightness expert Mark Shirley of Zephair reports from the International Passive House Conference in Aachen - with Irish low energy expertise attracting significant attention, and signs of a rapidly growing UK presence in passive house.

In the new issue of Passive House Plus, architect David Hughes argues that instead of investing tens of billions of euro upgrading its electricity infrastructure and building wind farms, Ireland should instead invest the money in the energy retrofit of its building stock.

That’s the question I want to ask today. I’m talking mostly about the situation in Ireland, because it’s the one I’m more familiar with things over here — particularly with regards to building regulations. But the same might apply to the UK.

As the UK inches towards zero carbon and nearly zero energy building targets, the construction industry must pay increasing attention to the impacts of regulatory changes on design and construction, argues Passive House Academy founder Tomás O’Leary. But will homes designed using the UK’s national methodology come close to passive house levels of comfort? 

The Irish Department of Environment has confirmed to Passive House Plus that its proposed independent committee on climate change will be an expert rather than stakeholder group.

In Yellowknife — the capital of Canada's Northwest Territories — January temperatures average -27C. So warm, low energy housing isn't just about cutting carbon, it's about staying alive.

This report on September's Frankfurt Motor Show, from airtightness expert Mark Shirley of 2eva.ie, looks at the latest technology in fuel efficient and electric vehicles, and draws parellels with low energy building