Cement is responsible for up to 8% of global carbon emissions, and in this guide, sustainable design expert Jay Stuart looks at ways to minimise its environmental impact through good design, and at some of the alternative, lower carbon cement and concrete products on the market.

When it comes to air pollution, we tend to worry most about things like traffic fumes and solid fuel burning — or when it comes to indoor air, condensation, damp and mould. But one of the biggest threats in the air we breathe comes from something we are exposed to almost every day, but rarely think about: cooking. John Hearne reports on the evidence for how cooking affects indoor air quality, and what we can do about it.

‘Architecture is the blissful moment when the site and brief come together,’ says architect Ruth Butler of the challenge she and her engineer husband faced in designing their family home, on a difficult urban site by the Hampshire coast. But it was a challenge they met and exceeded, because even though they hadn’t even planned to build a passive house, they soon realised the design was on course to meet the onerous energy standard anyway.

Sited on the side of a hill in the west of Ireland, a new home that meets the NZEB and passive house standards boasts a locally-made and super-insulated timber-frame, and is designed to fold cleverly into the rural landscape.

A ground-breaking new passive house in Bristol makes superb use of an urban plot to create a bright and spacious home built from ecological materials that — thanks to its huge solar roof and Tesla battery pack — produces more energy than it uses, making it one of the first UK projects to meet the passive house ‘plus’ standard, while also blitzing the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge’s targets for operational energy.

Advice also calls for upskilling for retrofit & low carbon heating

This issue features an off-grid passive house situated on a ten-acre vineyard, in south-eastern Australia.

Leading insulation manufacturer Xtratherm has become the latest company to receive an environmental product declaration (EPD) under the Irish EPD programme. Xtratherm’s EPD is for its Thin-R range of PIR insulation boards, and the declaration covers Thin-R boards ranging in thickness from 25 mm to 150 mm.

This ambitious renovation and extension of a single-storey Dublin redbrick, bringing it up to an A1 rating while far exceeding the new build NZEB standard, provides a beautifully-detailed blueprint for delivering warmth, comfort, and healthy indoor air — as well as extra space and living density — in historic city centre properties.

Irish heating and ventilation supplier VentHeat has launched two new humidification systems to the Irish market, both of which are designed to help stop the spread of bacteria and viruses within buildings.

The Ecocem Group has appointed Susan McGarry as managing director of Ecocem Ireland.

Irish cellulose insulation manufacturer Ecocel has warned that attic insulation, one of the most straightforward ways of improving thermal performance in typical dwellings, is frequently being neglected in favour of more complex energy efficiency solutions.

Leading insulated concrete formwork (ICF) supplier Amvic Ireland has emphasised its ability to deliver rapid construction times for new dwellings.

Unipipe has launched NIBE’s new range of S-series heat pumps to Ireland. The new S-series takes NIBE’s existing line-up of heat pumps and upgrades them with the latest in smart technology, control, and connectivity.

MBC Project – Oknoplast Ireland has just opened their third location in the country, setting up a new showroom at Claregalway Corporate Park just outside Galway City.

Quinn Building Products has become the first company in Ireland to attain an environmental product declaration (EPD) for a structural precast concrete product under the Irish EPD system.

Leading TV architect George Clarke has slammed plans for the government’s Future Homes Standard as “all talk no action” and being “too little and taking too much time”.

Leading ventilation supplier Solarcrest has advised anyone specifying a mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) system to ensure it is properly designed to deal with local air pollution issues.

A new UK property developer specialising in passive house projects is currently on site with its first scheme, Pure Meadows in Oakenshaw, Bradford.

Ecological Building Systems has announced that another component from the pro clima range of intelligent airtightness products has attained passive house approval.

What forms does sexism take in the construction industry, asks builder Em Appleton, and what can we do about it?

Researchers at the Institute of Industrial Science at the University of Tokyo have developed a new procedure for recycling concrete with the addition of discarded wood.

RIBA has published a new in-depth guide to the Enerphit Standard, the Passive House Institute’s benchmark for retrofit projects.

Irish Green Building Council business development manager Marion Jammet reports on work by the IGBC to help make rollout of deep retrofit a reality.

What are the consequences for the built environment, and the climate, of the lack of communication between research and industry, asks Dr Peter Rickaby – and what can be done about it?

In the latest instalment of his series on the development of energy efficiency and renewable energy in the 20th century, Dr Marc Ó Riain reports on the seismic impact caused by the 1973 oil crisis.