Watch this video of leading eco-architect Howard Liddell, who passed away three months ago, discussing his philosophy of eco-minimalism.
Learn to build with straw bale at Rock Farm, Meath
Written by Lenny Antonelli
Straw bale construction expert Bee Rowan will run a series of straw bale building workshops at Rock Farm on the Slane Castle Estate in Co Meath, starting from Saturday, 18 June.
Readers of Passive House Plus will probably have noticed that we use the English 'passive house' rather than the German 'passivhaus'. Though it might seem like a pedantic grammatical issue, we actually put a lot of thought into this before launching the mag.
Austrian passive house architect to speak in Cork
Written by Lenny Antonelli
Christoph Duenser of passive house veterans Hermann Kaufmann Architects will give a lecture on 13 June at 6pm in Crawford Art Gallery, Cork, Ireland.
Passive house in New Mexico cheaper than conventional build
Written by Lenny Antonelli
Not only is this home in Sante Fe, New Mexico a certified passive house, but architects MoSA say it cost 6.5% less to build than a conventional dwelling in the area too.
Call for entries by 15 May: UK Passivhaus Awards 2013
Written by News Desk
The Passivhaus Trust is calling for entries to the second UK Passivhaus Awards – the only dedicated awards for passive house in the UK, with a focus on as-built performance. The deadline for applications is 15 May 2013.
Visiting Germany to study low energy building
Written by Darragh McKiernan
In this dispatch, Darragh McKiernan, a graduate of Sustainable Energy at Cork Institute of Technology, reflects on a two-week visit to south Germany to study energy-efficient building.
New version of passive house software imminent
Written by Lenny Antonelli
The German version of the new passive house planning software was launched at the International Passive House Conference held in Frankfurt over the weekend, with the English version due to be released this summer.
Pioneer award for 1970s "zero energy" house in Denmark
Written by Lenny Antonelli
This from the Passive House Institute:
This year's Passive House Pioneer Award for groundbreaking achievements in the field of energy-efficient construction will go to the Zero-Energy House in Copenhagen, built in the 1970s under the guidance of the late professor Vagn Korsgaard (1921 – 2012).
Passive house conference kicks off this Friday
Written by Lenny Antonelli
Over 100 experts in ultra low energy building will address the International Passive House Conference, which takes place in Frankfurt this weekend. Speakers will present a wide range of case studies and research that, according to the Passive House Institute, demonstrates that passive house works "in all climates and for practically any type of building".
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Places still available for second Better Building conference
Written by Lenny Antonelli
The second Better Building conference will be held on 24 April in the Croke Park conference centre, Dublin. The inaugural conference at Royal Hospital Kilmainham last year sold out with nearly 400 attendees.
In this in-depth post, Jurgen Huber details the story behind his energy efficient 'Bauhaus Barge'
PH+ UK advertisers receive sustainable building leads worth "hundreds of millions of pounds"
Written by Jeff Colley
Designed to connect readers involved in sustainable building projects with advertisers offering sustainable solutions, the Passive House Plus enquiry system also provides a fascinating glimpse of sustainable building activity in the UK and Ireland. Editor Jeff Colley analyses the stats from the latest UK enquiries.
A "zero carbon" house on the Shetland islands
Written by Lenny Antonelli
Check out this video from NBC News on a "zero carbon" house on the Shetland isle of Unst.