It’s a radical idea: that to negate the environmental damage of construction, we don’t just need to build sustainably, we need to build less. However, most architects and building designers earn a living by doing exactly the opposite: by building stuff. So how can the design practice be reinvented for a world in which we need to do more with much, much less?

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

What do you get when a clinician couple decide to build their dream family home? In the skilled hands of leading Scottish architects Paper Igloo, you get a forensically detailed, highly ecological, cosy home that wraps up low embodied carbon and passive house into a beautiful design.

Designing a passive house is one thing. Designing a scheme of passive houses to make the most of the views on an extraordinary coastal site is another. And designing that scheme to tie into the local supply chains and architectural vernacular – while ensuring the homes are set up for changing, potentially disengaged occupants – is the stuff of magic.

Since hosting their first women’s day event in 2022, Mitsubishi Electric Ireland have established themselves as leaders in creating a platform for women to come together, connect and bond.

In the latest piece in his series on the development of low energy building, Dr Marc Ó Riain describes the evolution and Impact of EPCs in Ireland and the UK.

In the #BuildingLife Ambassador Spotlight Series, Passive House Plus is profiling leaders who have endorsed the Irish Green Building Council’s call to address the environmental impacts of buildings across their lifecycle.

New and tightening sustainability requirements are hitting the construction sector at an increasing pace. Irish Green Building Council membership engagement officer Lenny Antonelli goes through the main requirements – and offers clues on how to keep ahead.

The construction industry is moving in great numbers towards the passive house standard. In an adapted version of a speech at the Construction Industry Federation Conference in September, Passive House Association of Ireland chair Caroline Ashe Brady looks at the trek ahead.

Ecological Building Systems technical specification advisor Dave Judd looks at airtightness, active moisture control and effective ventilation in passive house properties.

A pilot version of the UK’s first cross-industry standard for net zero carbon-aligned buildings has been launched.

In September Cairn Homes lit the fuse on a passive house explosion, publishing a position paper on passive house and announcing the construction of nearly 1,800 apartments to the standard. But what’s behind the company’s bold move?

Galway-based mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) manufacturer ProAir has achieved best in class energy performance levels on a new MVHR system.

Ireland’s first 3D printed housing project has been delivered in Dundalk – integrating Firetite aerated clay cavity wall insulation.

Sisk, in collaboration with a consortium of leading low carbon industry experts, has announced that it has been successful in securing £500,000 from Innovate UK funding as part of the Contracts for Innovation: Decarbonising concrete competition, to invest in a pioneering scalable low carbon demonstrator, marking a world first new low carbon concrete technology.

Europe’s burgeoning green homes market is a multi-trillion euros opportunity – but lenders must be wary of facilitating greenwashing, a pan-European consortium has warned.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland has launched a home energy upgrade for traditional homes pilot.

Multi-award winning Belfast-based property developer, Fraser Millar, has launched Northern Ireland’s second large-scale residential passive house development – a 74-unit scheme of detached and semi-detached homes at a total project value of £30m.

Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction. And sometimes strange but breathtaking fiction subverts reality.

In issue 47 we took a break from our normal approach to Big Picture, with good reason: passive house playing a starring role in an extraordinary US TV show.

Irish construction professionals seeking to upskill in sustainability can avail of 80% grants – through short courses on a wide range of subjects linked to energy efficiency, the circular economy and digital skills for sustainable building.

KORE Retrofit, a leading provider of sustainable retrofit solutions in Ireland, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Barry Mc Carron as its new managing director. Mc Carron brings extensive experience in sustainable development, building energy performance, and project management to this pivotal role.