Intelligent energy management systems can help homeowners to save significant amounts of energy without even touching their building fabric — and without sacrificing on comfort. That’s according to Niall Walsh of Dublin-based home automation experts KNX Tech.

Specifications for new homes which fall short of energy performance targets in the Dwelling Energy Assessment Procedure software may nonetheless comply with Part L of the Irish Building Regulations, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland has said. This is potentially a significant development for passive house, a proven ultra low energy building strategy which is often undermined by the relatively crude assumptions in the Irish regulatory guidance and Deap software.