Lenny Antonelli is deputy editor of Passive House Plus. He also writes regularly for the Irish Times, and has contributed to a variety of other publications including the Sunday Times, the CS Monitor, Village, the Sunday Tribune amd the Dubliner. He is currently working on a radio documentary on Ireland's oceans.
New London classroom brings passive comfort to school prefabs
PassivClass, a new passive-certified modular classroom in London, aims to end the days of cold and draughty school prefabs – including a structure made from reclaimed materials.
UK's first Enerphit, six years on
Six years after it was completed, Passive House Plus takes a look at a pioneering low energy upgrade that went on to become the UK’s first certified Enerphit project, to find out how it has performed — and what lessons have been learned.
Pennine farmhouse marries traditional style with passive performance
From a distance Steel Farm looks like a traditional Northumberland farmhouse, with its sandstone exterior and cluster of outbuildings. But inside, it is something very different.
EU president sets passive precedent
Motivated by the experience of building and living in a passive house, one of Ireland’s leading political figures has become a public advocate for the standard. Passive House Plus visited the house to find out why.
Ireland's first passive house pharmacy
Late last summer, work finished on architect Paul McNally’s latest super low energy project: a three-storey building in Tipperary that has just become Ireland’s first certified passive house pharmacy.
From drab farm shed to passive, light filled studio
When Sjölander da Cruz Architects sought to turn an old abestos-clad shed into the firm’s new studio, it offered the perfect opportunity to put an enthusiasm for passive house design into practice.
Low energy Tipperary offices go for gold
A new development in Tipperary aimed to combine excellent levels of airtightness and insulation with generous glazing and natural ventilation to deliver ultra-modern, comfortable, low energy offices. How did it work out?
19th century barn gets 21st century fabric upgrade
Hitting Enerphit – the passive house standard for retrofits – wasn’t challenging enough for one Yorkshire retrofit project. The team also had to stop the building falling down, and avoid wholesale changes to the building’s external appearance.
Passive office cuts bills by £25k and absenteeism by 13 percent
Anyone who thinks the passive house standard isn’t relevant to non-domestic buildings is missing a trick. One certified passive office in Leicester reveals the significant benefits companies can yield in terms of saving energy, increasing productivity and improving the bottom line.
Deep retrofit brings Victorian home up to Enerphit
There was a time when insulating an historic property meant treading lightly on its building fabric. But today, guided by building physics, passive house designers continue to push the boundaries of retrofit by bringing old homes up to modern standards of super-insulation. This project is the third such deep retrofit to an historic London property by Green Tomato Energy.