Addressing building life cycle emissions requires much deeper action than is currently planned, says Marion Jammet of the Irish Green Building Council.
Despite an increase in the construction of new homes, the number available for first-time buyers and families to purchase is falling.
Passive house 30 years on: qualified success or brilliant failure?
Written by Guy Fowler
As the stringent fabric-first, low energy standard enters its fourth decade, Guy Fowler asks what sort of impact it has made on the world, and where it should go from here.
Top 5 questions about specifying structural thermal breaks
Written by Charlene Giles
Read Farrat's guide to specifying structural thermal breaks
CO2 Monitoring in Classrooms: Plain English Guide for Teachers
Written by Simon JonesBy Simon Jones of the Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre.
This simple guide is generic and should be appropriate for any classroom and CO2 monitor
While there is much debate about whether we should prioritise retrofitting homes or installing heat pumps, the climate crisis means we may not have a choice but to do both as fast as possible, writes Toby Cambray.
A list of EPDs from product manufacturers used in Kilbride Court.
Insulating our homes is critical and must be our first priority, but how do we get the rest of the way to zero carbon? Dr Peter Rickaby investigates the options…
We won’t be able to reduce the embodied carbon of construction fast enough just by switching to lower carbon materials, says Pat Barry of the Irish Green Building Council, so we urgently need smart design that allows us to build with less, and to create a genuine circular economy for building materials.
Does the energy rating of homes actually reflect their real-world performance? Dr Shane Colclough, vice chair of the Passive House Association of Ireland, outlines the growing importance of post-occupancy analysis.
Under its new housing plan, the government wants the state to acquire more land for housebuilding. But why has it failed to use the vast land banks it already owns? Mel Reynolds runs the rule over the figures.
The emergence of thermal bridging & thermal bypass
Written by Marc O'Riain
What’s to show from four years of Rebuilding Ireland?
Written by Mel Reynolds
In 2017 the government promised it would deliver 50,000 homes over the next five years as part of its Rebuilding Ireland programme. But figures from the first four years show it has fallen well short, writes Mel Reynolds.
A chance purchase on eBay leads buildings physics expert Toby Cambray to admire the aesthetics and mechanics of old scientific instruments.
The concept of building back better and greener, popular early in the pandemic, is now in danger of being abandoned in the rush to return to ‘normal’ — but we always have the power to shape what normal is, writes Dr Peter Rickaby.