The second edition of the book Understanding Passivhaus by Emma Walshaw of First In Architecture is out now. The book is designed to provide a brief, clear and complete guide to building a passive home.

An international standard ‘E-Thermal’ environmental test facility designed to assist Irish SMEs in developing new sustainable heating products has formally been opened at Galway Mayo Institute of Technology.

During a speech last year Theresa May challenged the construction industry to halve the energy use of new buildings, and to halve the cost of retrofit. But we already know how to meet these challenges, writes Peter Rickaby, and much more difficult tasks lie ahead.

A new research project at UCD will aim to uncover key early lessons from the design and operation of nearly zero energy buildings (NZEBs) in Ireland. The NZEB standard will become mandatory in Ireland for dwellings from November.

New studies are seeking to answer questions about how spray foam insulation, and materials containing formaldehyde, affect indoor air quality —and some of the early results are worrying.

Dangerous overheating in buildings may not be showing up in desktop studies, new research suggests.

A research project examining the effectiveness of ventilation systems in low energy homes is one of 45 new sustainable energy projects to receive government funding in companies and institutions across Ireland.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the Viessmann Group’s new technological research and development centre in Allendorf, Germany on 12 April. The €50 million investment by Viessmann, one of the leading international manufacturers of heating, industrial and refrigeration systems, sets a milestone in interdisciplinary development and innovation, the company said.

A major research project by the Passive House Institute has found that heat energy consumption of the passive house district of Bahnstadt, in the city of Heidelberg, Germany, is roughly one-third that of conventional housing developments.

A new research centre in Northern Ireland could stake a claim as being one of the greenest buildings on these islands. Not only is it passive, it boasts a whole suite of ecological features, and aims to be at the cutting edge in the research and development of new sustainable and renewable technologies.

This issue’s international selection features a developer-built passive house in Philadelphia, a big new research centre in Frankfurt, a sleek family home in Vienna, and a new low-energy factory in Canada where passive timber buildings will be prefabricated.