Radon is one of the most dangerous indoor air pollutants, yet there is little research on how it is affected by different forms of construction and ventilation. A new study, however, suggests that homes built to the passive house standard are significantly less at risk of radon build-up.

Despite the challenges of getting planning permission within a national park, a new passive house on a hillside in the South Downs managed to woo the planners with a sympathetic, discerning design inspired by a surprising source — two dilapidated old chicken sheds.

A beautifully detailed and rustic new passive house in the north of Scotland was built with a unique off-site construction system using local timber, and was created by a design-and-build firm that aims to put sustainability at the heart of everything it does.

It sounds like an impossibility: a high density, architectural, zero energy home on the tightest of back garden sites, adaptable to the needs of everyone from empty nesters to a family of six without opening a toolbox. But sometimes a project comes along that redefines what is possible.

This issue features an intriguing new passive house apartment building in north-west Spain.

There is strong and growing demand for GGBS on the Irish market, according to leading Irish supplier Ecocem, as the company gears up to respond to a market and regulatory environment that is increasingly demanding low embodied energy construction products.

High efficiency is a hugely important factor in choosing a heating system and this is a key priority for industry leading manufacturer Grant, whose wide portfolio of heating technologies has advanced over the years and now includes air source heat pumps, underfloor heating, pre-plumbed hot water cylinders, aluminium radiators and fan convector radiators.

Condensation within the structure of buildings is a lot more complex than condensation in a sweaty pub on a Friday night, writes building physics expert Toby Cambray.

As governments rush to jump-start their economies, there is a danger that important lessons for how to retrofit homes will be lost in the rush to build. But there is a better way, writes Dr Peter Rickaby.

Returning to his regular series on the evolution of sustainable building during the 20th century, Dr Marc Ó Riain takes a look at the first serious attempt to build a house with net zero energy use.

The Ecocem Group, Europe’s premier producer of high performance, low carbon cement, have announced the appointment of John Reddy as Group Quality and Innovation Application Manager.

Leading cement products manufacturer Kilsaran has become the latest Irish building materials company to publish Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for some of its key products.

A new housing development in Leopardstown, County Dublin is just the latest scheme to hit NZEB with the help of Daikin Altherma air-to-water heat pumps.

Beam Vacuum & Ventilation have launched their new range of HERU heat recovery ventilation systems, combining a sleek new design with award-winning rotating heat exchanger technology.

New Cork school built and finished in 4 weeks

The need for decisive movement on deep retrofit has never been more pronounced, given the twin needs for urgent, radical action to tackle the climate crisis and jobs-intensive stimulus at a time of great uncertainty caused by the pandemic. In the following statement, the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment sheds light on its progress in delivering on the government’s deep retrofit pledges.

Simon Bell of the Passive House Association of Ireland outlines how the organisation can help clients, professionals and suppliers to deliver the passive house standard.

Diageo has chosen developer Ballymore as its partner to deliver the transformation of 12.6 acres of its iconic St James’s Gate site into the first “zero carbon” district in Dublin.

The Cosgrave Group, ESB and SSE Airtricity Energy Services, are among the finalists in the SEAI Energy Awards 2020.

A landmark legal case may give tenants the chance to discover if their building poses a lung cancer risk, Passive House Plus can exclusively reveal.

The government is building cross-party retrofit commitments to ensure a long-term and continuous programme of retrofit work, Passive House Plus has learned.

Over the coming years there will be growing demand for openable windows in our office buildings to help prevent virus transmission — which is why high-quality solar shading will be more important than ever, says Smartlouvre managing director Andrew Cooper.

Partel, a leading specialist in high-performance building envelopes, is currently running a new RIBA-approved CPD programme titled ‘Best Practice for Air and Windtight Structures’.

The NHS has given the go ahead for its first passive house building. The new Foleshill health centre in Coventry is designed by Tooley & Foster Partnership. Patients and doctors at Foleshill are currently using a temporary building situated in a carpark.

ABK Architects has received planning permission for 597 homes at Shanganagh, Co Dublin, the overwhelming majority of which will be passive houses. The project has been developed in partnership with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and the Land Development Agency.

Leading ICF building envelope specialist Passive Building Structures is currently on site completing a large new passive house in Didsbury, Manchester. The project offers a contemporary take on the surrounding traditional architecture.