Heat pumps rise, PV falls and fabric stands still.

Leading Cork-based sustainable building product supplier Passive House Systems has just been awarded the first ever NSAI Agrément certificate for a solar PV system.

The UK’s first energy positive classroom has recently opened at Swansea University. Built by Swansea University’s Specific Innovation and Knowledge Centre, the Active Classroom generates, stores and releases its own solar energy.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland’s (SEAI) annual two-day business-to-business event, the Energy Show 2016, was a huge success with visitors up a quarter on last year. 

Leading renewable technology supplier Unipipe has become the Irish distributors for the Austrian Smartflower – which the company claim is the world’s first self-contained solar PV system. 

PV specialist Autarco has developed a microinverter which, it says, outperforms traditional inverters in terms of yield per module, flexibility, safety and reliability. It combines “ultra-reliable components with a distributed architecture that makes for a more resilient power plant”, according to Autarco sales director Lloyd Lawson 

Kingspan Insulation has taken a step towards net zero energy by using the roof of its factory in Castleblayney, Co Monaghan to generate clean, renewable electricity.

Leading solar PV brand Autarco has announced its entry to the Irish market. Autarco told Passive House Plus that it is the world’s first company to provide complete single brand solar PV systems with an industry unique energy generation guarantee, expressed in kWh.

Solar Electric Ireland has just completed the largest solar PV installation in a single location in the Republic of Ireland.

Kingspan Insulation UK has published its latest Sustainability & Responsibility Report, highlighting a year of continued growth and sustainable development.

This summer, work was completed on the Enterprise Centre at the University of East Anglia, which might just be the most sustainable large building ever constructed in Britain.

This new home in Cumbria not only meets the passive house standard, it embraces natural and recycled materials and produces its own electricity — and achieved it all on a ‘shoestring’ budget.

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?

If you’ve ever wanted to take a passive house for a road test, one holiday letting on the coast of west Cork may be too good an opportunity to turn down. The aptly named Sea Spray – an as yet uncertified Enerphit upgraded bungalow – is a bona fide triumph in the face of adversity.

One third of the units at a new social housing development in the East Midlands have met the passive house standard— but the entire project was inspired by fabric first, low energy design.

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.

Architectural technician Phillip Newbold overcame strict planning rules and a tight budget to build his sensitively designed, super low energy home in an area of outstanding natural beauty.

The expression ‘from a needle to an anchor’ comes to mind after having spent a day walking through the 17 halls of the Munich Exhibition for the biennial BAU.