The shortlist of projects for this year’s 2016 UK Passivhaus Awards has been announced. There are just two categories this year, urban and rural, with Rehau being the main sponsor. 

Roughly 50,000 excess winter deaths occur annually between the UK and Ireland, with fuel poverty a primary cause. Yet although concerted social housing retrofit efforts could help tackle climate change while preventing thousands of senseless deaths of vulnerable people, flawed financial modelling is letting us down, argues Peter Rickaby. 

In October 2015, PYC Systems carried out the first of several air tests at the Hilltop project in Richard’s Castle on the Hertfordshire— Shropshire border, Architype’s first small scale residential passive house project. The first blower door test result was 0.59 air changes per hour (ACH), prior to insulating the envelope, which everyone was keen to improve on as it only marginally passed the passive house standard and was prior to fitting services, which are known to increase the risk of air leaks. 

An initiative aiming to increase knowledge and understanding of the issues moisture can cause in buildings old and new, was launched in London on 26 May. The UK Centre for Moisture in Buildings (UKCMB), backed by University College London and other academic institutions plus the BRE, plans an ambitious programme of research, public engagement, policy work and training to improve moisture safety.

Green Building TV, a new community platform that uses video to communicate ideas, products and services between buyers and sellers — all relating to the sustainable construction sector — is set to go live in mid June. 

Fixing specialist Ancon has launched a brand new ultra-low thermal conductivity wall tie 

World-renowned author, environmentalist and advisor to the Democratic Party Bill McKibben has praised the green leadership that Ireland is starting to show through Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and Dublin City Council voting to make the passive house standard or demonstrably equivalent alternatives mandatory for all new buildings. 

It is well documented that parapets allow conductive materials to transfer energy through the thermal barrier and are therefore just as prone to the problems of thermal bridging as balconies. 

SMET Building Products has advised those specifying floor screed to avoid product failure, particularly in heated screeds, by ensuring their choice of products meets the right standards. “Historically, floor screed failures have regularly resulted from the interaction of heated screed constructions with a wide range of coverings. Failure by the contractor to check on residual moisture and consequent installation of coverings on an overly wet screed may have serious implications for the durability and longevity of the flooring,” said Joris Smet of SMET Building Products. 

The primary reason for requiring airtightness in buildings has nothing to do with energy efficiency or occupant comfort, writes Helen Brown, head of building physics at Encraft — it's for the protection of the building fabric. 

Leading passive house rooflight supplier DVS recently designed, supplied and installed two large Passive House Institute-certified glass roofs for the University of Leicester’s Centre for Medicine, the largest non-residential building built to the passive house standard in the UK. 

The Keystone Group is the first lintel manufacturer to offer an online Psi-value calculator designed for energy assessors and architects. 

Passive house & sustainable building mortgage provider Ecology Building Society has become the first building society in the UK to be awarded the Fair Tax Mark. 

Sustainable flooring company Forbo’s new Marmoleum Striato collection of contemporary linear linoleum designs has been awarded with the iF Design Award 2016. 

Leading Irish timber frame manufacture Cygum has said that it is possible to tackle the housing crises in the UK and Ireland by mass-producing high quality timber passive houses on a large scale.

Ecological Building Systems are pleased to announce global leaders in innovative airtightness solutions Pro Clima have added a new range of pre-folded airtightness tapes, Tescon Profect to their array of intelligent airtightness solutions.  

The long-held claim that customer demand for purchasing sustainable homes is limited has been challenged in new research by UK housebuilder Redrow.

Traditional screeds require significant drying before the final floor covering can be installed, however, if this is not well planned for, it may well delay the completion of the entire project.

All new buildings in south-east Dublin must be built to the passive house standard or demonstrably equivalent levels, in a move that may lead to the construction of upwards of 20,000 passive houses by 2022.

Leading airtightness and vapour control product manufacturer Ampack’s BBA certification now includes the company’s external systems — Ampatop Protecta, Ampatop Protecta plus, Ampatop Aero and Ampatop Aero plus.

Kingspan Insulation UK has published its latest Sustainability & Responsibility Report, highlighting a year of continued growth and sustainable development.

Bristol City Council have appointed Gale & Snowden Architects as lead consultants on a scheme of 23 dwellings aiming for passive house plus certification.

Double winner of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise, Ancon Building Products continues to expand its range of high integrity structural fixings and will exhibit a number of new products at Ecobuild 2016 taking place at ExCeL, London from 8 to 10 March 2016.

Penny Randell has been appointed as a director of Ecological Building Systems UK Ltd.

The UK Green Building Council has come together with Green Building Councils from around the world to publish a series of commitments from the private sector that would result in massive carbon savings from buildings and construction.

The Association for the Conservation of Energy (Ace) has described as “scandalous” the Chancellor’s announcement of a 42% cut in the help available to households living in “dangerously” cold homes.

The Royal Institute of British Architects said that, despite some growing pessimism among architectural practices about business prospects, passive house design represents a new and exciting growth area that offers added value for architectural firms.