Forgive the 80s hip hop house reference in the headline, but the volume of the walls in this volumetric modular school building in Birr was literally pumped up – with recycled newspaper insulation. Built to passive house principles, it’s a story of one Roscommon manufacturer reimagining the role that offsite methods can play in the delivery of highly sustainable permanent accommodation for schools – while delivering exceptionally low embodied carbon results. Additional words - Jeff Colley

The ever-tightening ambitions to integrate sustainability throughout Ireland’s new and existing buildings won’t be realised unless we can find smart, flexible ways to upskill the industry. Lis O’Brien of Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) explains how Digital Academy for Sustainable Built Environment (DASBE) has it cracked.

Research, led by Technological University of the Shannon, has identified significant skills and labour shortages in the built environment sector. The study highlights how this challenges Ireland in reaching its climate targets and points out possible solutions.

Medite Smartply has announced a donation of €250,000 to Technological University (TU) Dublin, to support the development of Design + Construct, a centre for collaborative, multidisciplinary education that will drive performance in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sector through talent and technology.

A new online hub aimed at upskilling the construction sector is now live.

Since Erne Campus opened its doors in September, students of South West College in Enniskillen can now experience one of the world’s most environmentally advanced higher education buildings, and the largest building in the world so far certified to the passive house premium standard, in recognition of both its highly efficient building fabric and the large amount of solar energy it generates.

Most people think of cold, cramped and poor-quality buildings when they think of student accommodation, but two new passive house residences at King’s College, Cambridge are rewriting the rulebook, with their focus on occupant comfort, architectural quality, and an enlightened, long-term view of construction costs.

Coventry University research has found that 40 per cent of primary school classrooms examined in a study did not have an adequate ventilation rate to combat the spread of Covid-19.

The National Construction Training Centre in County Laois is aiming to meet the challenge of training the huge number of skilled workers needed for Ireland’s planned housebuilding and deep retrofitting programmes.

South West College’s new Erne Campus building in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, is the world’s largest, and the first educational building, to be certified to the passive house premium standard, the Passive House Institute has confirmed.

The School of Architecture from Lancaster University and Ecological Building Systems UK formed a partnership in 2021 to award the best eco-design produced by first year students of the BA (Hons) Architecture at the university.

The Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board (WWETB), one the country’s leading providers of practical construction training for nearly zero energy building (NZEB), has moved most of its NZEB training courses online to facilitate critical upskilling during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Heating technology manufacturer Grant has launched its new eLearning Academy for those working in the plumbing and heating, architectural and construction sectors in Ireland.

All of the recordings from the recent Energy Efficient Building Seminar series are now available to watch on Partel’s YouTube channel. 

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.

Over the past couple of months, the Irish Green Building Council (IGBC) has been focusing on helping those in the industry to upskill during the lockdown.

Daikin Ireland is running a new regular series of online CPD webinars to enable remote learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. The latest dates for June webinars have just been announced.

What are the consequences for the built environment, and the climate, of the lack of communication between research and industry, asks Dr Peter Rickaby – and what can be done about it?

BIMcert’s innovative training platform for the construction industry is now open. The new platform is live with temporary free training for all.

This issue features a certified passive house in South Island, New Zealand, and the Bagley Outdoor Classroom at the University of Minnesota, Duluth.

If the reduce, reuse, recycle mantra has a built embodiment, it’s arguably the recently completed Rediscovery Centre in Ballymun, Dublin – a 1960s boiler house for a much maligned early district heating system that’s been transformed into a sustainability education centre, and that makes use of a remarkably large palette of green materials and sustainable technologies.

Northern Ireland’s South West College has announced that its new Erne Campus in Enniskillen will include the first educational building in the world built to the new passive house premium standard. The campus will be constructed on the site of the former Erne Hospital.

A major new £36m secondary school in Sutton, designed by passive architecture specialists Architype, has successfully received planning permission.

A brand new passive-certified nursery at the University of Aberdeen provides the children of staff and students with a bright, warm and healthy space for learning and playing.

Award winning Cork-based insulation manufacturer Ecocel will shortly open its doors for a series of factory tours, with the aim of increasing awareness of the importance of eco-friendly, healthy insulation.

The co-ordinator of a sustainability focused architectural masters programme in University College Dublin believes that education in building design needs to focus more on the health and well-being of building occupants, as well as the numbers-driven approach of energy efficiency and resource conservation.

The UK’s first energy positive classroom has recently opened at Swansea University. Built by Swansea University’s Specific Innovation and Knowledge Centre, the Active Classroom generates, stores and releases its own solar energy.