My blog post last week on 'passive house vs passivhaus' generated a fair bit of debate, so I thought it'd be nice to take a look at some of the reaction it provoked. The vast majority of those who responded disagreed with my stance, and this magazine's stance, expressing preference for the German 'passivhaus'.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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".
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.
Lobbying delays publication of pollution data on construction materials
Written by Lenny Antonelli
Pressure from sectors of the building materials industry last November forced a delay in the publication of a database detailing the carbon footprint of building materials in Ireland, Passive House Plus can reveal.
Fakro roof window gets passive house approval
Written by Lenny Antonelli
Roof window manufacturer Fakro has announced the award of a Passive House Institute certificate for its quadruple-glazed FTT U8 Thermo roof window, which has a U-value of 0.58.
Ecocem Ireland announces €19m investment and jobs programme
Written by News Desk
Ecocem Ireland announced last week that its plans to create 61 jobs as part of a new three year, €19m investment programme coinciding with the official opening of its new facility at Dublin Port. The new plant will be used to bag Ecocem’s low carbon cement. The company said that the carbon footprint of its product is more than 50% lower than traditional cement.
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Passive house pioneer Wolfgang Feist honoured with UK architectural award
Written by Lenny Antonelli
Professor Wolfgang Feist has been awarded an honorary fellowship by the Royal Institute of British Architects. The award ceremony took place on 6 February.
Record number of products get passive house certification
Written by Lenny Antonelli
The Passive House Institute has announced that it certified 134 products last year, a new record. These components included everything from sliding doors and dome lights to balcony systems.
Baumit to showcase "innovative" external insulation at EcoBuild
Written by News Desk
Baumit will showcase an "innovative" new external thermal insulation technology on 5-7 March at EcoBuild 2013 in Excel, London. The Baumit OPEN external wall insulation (EWI) system is a thin coat render system for solid wall construction.
Main content of first UK edition of Passive House Plus revealed
Written by Jeff Colley
With the deadline fast approaching, the bulk of the editorial content for our inaugural UK edition has been confirmed. Curiosity getting the better of you? The following issue overview may make the anticipation unbearable…