The 23rd annual International Passive House Conference takes place outside of Europe for the first time ever this year, with the Chinese city of Gaobeidian hosting the event on 9 to 11 October. This year’s conference was rescheduled after originally being set for 21 and 22 September.
Energy Action to host 8th fuel poverty conference
Written by News Desk
Energy Action is hosting its eighth annual Fuel Poverty Conference in Dublin on 21 October 2019, at the Croke Park Conference Centre. The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Richard Bruton TD will open the conference.
Durkan to break ground on 47 Killiney passive houses
Written by News Desk
Durkan Residential are set to break ground this month on one of Ireland’s largest passive house schemes to date, Rockfield. Situated on Church Road, Killiney, the scheme will comprise 47 units, including 15 generously proportioned 171 m2 houses, 16 duplexes averaging 115 m2, and 16 ground floor units averaging 80 m2 each.
Bank of Ireland has unveiled a suite of green loans and interest rates to encourage home owners and businesses to be more energy efficient. The new initiatives include a green interest rate discount for borrowers buying or building energy efficient homes, and a green home improvement loan for energy efficiency retrofits. Businesses, including farmers, will also be able to access reduced interest rates for investment in energy saving improvements.
Diverging trends at the Frankfurt Motor Show
Written by Mark Shirley
Imagine you are a business owner in a changing, Willy Wonka-esque world wherein you have to entertain two extreme ends of your market to satisfy clients.
Office-to-flat conversions “deeply worrying”
Written by Kate de Selincourt
Rights allowing the conversion of commercial buildings into dwellings, without planning permission, are potentially creating unhealthy living conditions.
BER data indicates national house building growth – except for Dublin
Written by Jeff Colley
Significantly more new homes (16.5%) were built in Ireland in the first eight months of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018 – with double digit declines in Dublin cancelled out by strong growth in the rest of the country, new analysis by Passive House Plus indicates.
100 Irish households sought for indoor air quality study
Written by Lenny Antonelli
Researchers from the School of Physics at NUI Galway are seeking to recruit 100 households to measure indoor environmental air quality within Irish homes that have been built to be highly energy efficient, by deploying remote sensors within the homes.
Housing ‘race to the bottom’ bad for climate & quality — energy expert
Richard Tibenham
The pressure to build large volumes of additional housing in response to the housing crisis is driven by false logic and risks undermining both the quality of new homes and UK carbon targets, according to Richard Tibenham, lecturer in building physics at the University of Lincoln and director of Greenlite Energy Assessors.
The British Blind & Shutter Association (BBSA) has challenged what it described as the defacto banning of shading on tall glass buildings in Part B of the building regulations, and is seeking a judicial review on several points, principally that the regulation is misconceived as it focusses on combustibility rather than flammability
From 28 – 30 June 2019, the mid-year International Passive House Open Days, organised by iPHA and its affiliates, will take place in the UK.
Initial findings into radon levels in 75 certified passive house buildings in Ireland and the UK shows that there is a 60% reduction when compared against the Irish national average.