A Fingal county councillor has been granted leave to pursue a judicial review of the planning board's decision to allow demolition of the Deer Park Hotel on Howth Demesne.
Tuesday, 04 March 2025 17:13

Wales unveils net zero pattern book

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Wales’s devolved government has moved forward with plans to standardise sustainable, timber-based affordable homes in the country with the publication of a new pattern book.
Tuesday, 04 March 2025 17:07

Scotland to accept passive house as regs compliant

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Certified passive house to be alternative means of compliance to proposed Scottish passive house equivalent.

Irish homeowners can now borrow €5,000 to €75,000 at significantly lower interest rates to retrofit their homes, thanks to a new €500m government-backed scheme.
Highly polluting cements are to be ruled out of public sector projects in Ireland from September, due to new government public procurement rules.

Patrick Harvie MSP, the Scottish government’s minister for zero carbon buildings, active travel and tenants' rights, was a keynote speaker at the UK Passivhaus Conference in Edinburgh on 17 October, and shared his vision for energy efficient and low carbon buildings in Scotland.

Ireland and the European Investment Bank (EIB) today reached an agreement that paves the way for government-backed, low-interest home energy upgrade loans. The agreement marks a major milestone in the development of the loan scheme which will be underpinned by resources from the EIB Group.

Tuesday, 25 April 2023 16:10

Scotland to mandate passive house for new homes

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Scotland’s minister for zero carbon buildings is proposing to make the passive house standard, or a new Scottish equivalent, the minimum energy efficiency standard for new build homes from the end of 2024.
In the first of planned quarterly updates on the government funded SEAI grant schemes, Environment minister Eamonn Ryan and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) have announced that almost 27,200 energy upgrades were completed in 2022, up 80 per cent on 2021, while applications are up 140 per cent.
Tuesday, 25 April 2023 15:47

EU votes through EPBD recast

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Changes include embodied carbon, zero emission buildings and minimum energy standards
Friday, 06 January 2023 11:44

State passive house scheme breaks ground

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The Land Development Agency (LDA), in partnership with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, has broken ground on the largest public housing scheme in the state in recent years – a passive house scheme at Shanganagh in Shankill, Co Dublin.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar, TD, has launched Construct Innovate – a new Enterprise Ireland Technology Centre hosted at University of Galway which may play a key role in the transition to sustainable building in Ireland.

Wednesday, 24 August 2022 13:03

EU proposes gas demand reduction plan till spring

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As Russia weaponises gas exports, the European Commission has proposed a gas demand reduction plan, to cut use in Europe by 15 per cent until next spring.

New radon maps, launched by the Environmental Protection Agency today at the National Radon Forum, show an increased risk from radon in Ireland, with 170,000 homes now predicted to be at risk of radon exposure above the national reference level.

Tuesday, 08 February 2022 17:13

Major new grants for retrofit & insulation announced

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The Irish government has announced significant new grants designed to make it “easier and more affordable” for homeowners to undertake home energy upgrades.

Ireland’s new climate action plan, which was published on Thursday 4 November, contains the country’s first official targets for limiting the embodied carbon of construction materials. 

The Department of Housing has come under criticism for draft guidelines which would prevent local authorities from setting sustainable building targets for buildings as a planning condition, with the passive house standard and low carbon cement directly referenced.

Monday, 18 October 2021 14:28

EPA launches new green procurement guides

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The government has launched new guidelines from the Environmental Protection Agency aimed at greening public procurement.
The government has announced a new €45 million programme of investment in the retrofifit of local authority housing. This includes an initial investment of €35m for the retrofitting of 1,293 homes, plus an additional €10m to be allocated to local authorities who demonstrate an ability to complete additional works this year.
Monday, 29 March 2021 09:45

Green groups critical of latest budget

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Leading environmental and green building charities have criticised the government’s lack of ambition on retrofit, upskilling and a green economic recovery in its latest budget.
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