With obsessive attention to preserving and restoring the original fabric of these two Victorian townhouses, and a commitment to shunning petrochemicals and using only natural materials, could this be the most wildly ambitious and sustainable passive retrofit ever undertaken in the UK?

Situated in a stunning location in the west of Ireland, between Galway Bay and the limestone hills of the Burren, this project provided a complex challenge in three parts: deep retrofit an old cottage into a yoga studio, reinvigorate its original extension, and build a new barrel-roofed passive-grade extension — then make it all work together as one unified home and workspace.

An award-winning social housing development in South Dublin points to a sustainable way out of Ireland’s housing crisis.

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.

Ecological Building Systems scooped three awards at the recent Architecture & Building Expo held in the RDS, Dublin. This event brings together the country’s leading architects, architectural technologists, industry professionals and specifiers.

Keystone Lintels has received certification from the British Board of Agrément (BBA) for its Hi-therm+ Lintel. According to the company, this makes it the only BBA approved one-piece lintel solution which achieves the appendix R value for steel lintels in Part L 2013 (depending on wall construction).

Tim Martel of Optimal Retrofit describes recent advances in PHribbon, an Excel tool designed to improve the functionality of the passive house design software PHPP.

Viessmann has introduced two new air source heat pumps, the Vitocal 200-A and Vitocal 222-A, which boast innovative noise-reduction technology. Both operate so quietly that they are suitable for densely built-up areas such as terraced housing estates, and both deliver high energy efficiency with low operating costs, according to Viessmann.

Foam glass gravel provides a sustainable alternative to traditional aggregates and hardcores, according to Mike Wye Ltd & Associates, the leading supplier of traditional and sustainable building materials.

Leading ventilation supplier CVC Direct has advised anyone specifying an MVHR (mechanical ventilation with heat recovery) system to understand the basics of relative humidity and consider their own local climate before choosing a system with an enthalpy heat exchanger.

The Welsh assembly has voted through new legally-binding carbon emissions targets for the country. The targets bind the country to reduce emissions by 80%, relative to 1990 levels, by 2050.

The revelations in Passive House Plus issue 24 about failed external insulation retrofits in the Fishwick area of Preston have been followed up by UK national media, putting pressure on Ofgem, the electricity and gas regulator, to make more effort to help those affected.

A series of nationwide forums designed to help housing and construction professionals improve home energy efficiency across the UK has secured support from regional low carbon champions.

Building designers need to undertake much deeper analyses of overheating risks, and do so under future climate change scenarios, in order to ensure their buildings can adapt and remain comfortable for occupants in a warming world.

ISH, the world’s leading trade fair focused on building services, energy, and water, returns to Messe Frankfurt from 11 to 15 March 2019.

The Rediscovery Centre in Ballymun picked up the Buildings Award at the 2018 SEAI Sustainable Energy Awards, which were held at the Mansion House, Dublin, on 25 October. The awards recognise excellence in energy management in business, communities and public sector organisations.

Energy efficient properties less likely to default, research finds

Heat pumps were likely the dominant heating system in new Irish homes in 2017, and mechanical ventilation was on course to overtake natural ventilation in new homes in 2018, an analysis by Passive House Plus has revealed.

Fifty-four percent of Irish organisations participating in the World Green Building Trends 2018 SmartMarket Report expect their projects to be green by 2021 — well above the global average of 47%. “The number of green buildings has increased significantly in Ireland over the last five years,” said Pat Barry, CEO of the Irish Green Building Council (IGBC).

NIBE’s F730 exhaust air heat pumps have been selected to provide heating, ventilation and hot water for the Bolands Quay apartment development at Grand Canal Dock in Dublin, which is currently under construction.

The environmental impact of uPVC windows can be substantially reduced through proper recycling at the end of life, according to MBC Project, the Irish supplier of windows and doors for low energy and passive house projects.

VRM Tech, the developer of innovative mobile software apps for the construction industry, has launched Virtual Construction Management Platform (VCMP), a cloud-based app that aims to radically streamline the management of construction projects.

Woodfibre insulation specialist, NBT, is on target for a 50 per cent growth in sales volumes for 2018, indicating that specifiers are increasingly selecting woodfibre for its thermal performance, year-round comfort and moisture dispersion properties.

It is being suggested that the creation of a Joint Competent Authority – as called for by Dame Judith Hackitt in her review of the building regulatory system, after the Grenfell tragedy – is due to be announced by the UK Ministry of Housing very soon. And a new industry initiative is calling for Dame Judith’s recommendations to be implemented in full.

Old Holloway Cottage, the 100 square metre timber-and-straw cottage in rural Herefordshire that was designed by its homeowner, architect Juraj Micurcik, picked up the small project award at this year’s UK Passivhaus Awards, which were presented at the end of October.

There was much talk of jobless recovery as economies picked up after the last global recession. Mel Reynolds detects signs of an analogous proposition in the Irish property market: a housing boom that may be close to peaking without much in the way of housebuilding to report.

“Only if we are capable of dwelling, only then can we build.”
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