A liquid screed installed three years ago at a passive house in Cork City has been performing superbly, according to its architect, enabling the A1 rated home to be heated quickly and evenly via underfloor heating when required.

The home of a local passive house builder, this super low energy home in County Mayo is inspired by traditional building forms in the west of Ireland — and it blitzed Ireland’s nearly zero energy building standard a whole five years before it was set to become mandatory.

Designing a dwelling to take advantage of the sun’s free heat is a big part of what makes a passive house passive. So how do you meet the low energy standard when your narrow site faces away from the sun and is overshadowed by neighbouring houses and trees, while simultaneously hitting an A1 building energy rating – and with a stunning, architecturally expressive design?

A thermal imaging report carried out by thermography experts EcoScan has revealed crucial differences in energy performance between a new light-gauge steel-frame house in Sligo, and a neighbouring house of cavity wall construction.

This upgrade and extension to a rural home in County Cork cut its energy use by almost 90%, bringing it to the cusp of an A1 Building Energy Rating.