While understanding wall and roof insulation is relatively straightforward, insulation under the ground floor can be a bit of a mystery by comparison. Not only is it buried in the ground, but there are notoriously tricky spots like the wall-floor junction that need to be detailed and insulated properly. And the design of your foundation often depends on site conditions and the type of structure you’re going to build, too. In this guide, we explain some different ways of insulating one of the most challenging parts of the building envelope.

Taking its cues from the original historic almshouse on site, St John’s Lichfield chose to build their new sheltered housing development for older persons to the passive house standard as part of high-quality design that emphasised community, calm and comfort.

Dangerous overheating in buildings may not be showing up in desktop studies, new research suggests.

Forget passive house, is Powerhouse the most crazily ambitious energy-related building standard around?

Choosing newly-harvested green oak — which shrinks and moves as it dries — for the millimetre-precise demands of passive house construction was a bold move by Phil Garnett and his wife Yvonne, but one that ultimately gave them one of the most unique and ground-breaking passive homes in the UK.

A new family home in County Armagh blends together a traditional, clustered farmhouse style and a modern aesthetic so seamlessly, you would never even guess it’s a certified passive house.

While a tight budget meant some of the more ambitious eco features planned for this simple and graceful new farmhouse had to be dropped, it still manages to meet Ireland’s standard for nearly zero energy buildings (nZEBs) thanks to a combination of superb detailing and fabric-first design.

Dr Marc Ó Riain looks at the influence of 20th century architectural giant Frank Lloyd Wright on low energy building design.

Housing pundit and architect Mel Reynolds argues that local authority action could be the key to solving the housing crisis.

Michael McCarthy, a certified trainer with the Passive House Academy and an international authority on the passive house standard as lead passive house certifier on the MosArt team, has joined Versatile as the new ventilation specialist within its heating, cooling & ventilation division.

The imperative to engage in evidence-based deep retrofit grows by the day. With the UK government dragging its heels, Peter Rickaby finds signs of hope in local initiatives, and in burgeoning Irish efforts.

The Saint-Gobain Ireland Technical Academy is adding to its existing training portfolio by launching a series of free nZEB modular courses. Starting this July, these innovative nZEB courses will offer those working in construction in Ireland a chance to upskill, free of charge, in an increasingly regulated area of the construction industry.

Consultation on rental standards also criticised.

Passive Sills, the Cork-based manufacturer of insulated window sills, has now received an NSAI Agrément certificate for its passive sills system. The company also told Passive House Plus that it was expecting to get its British Board of Agrément certificate imminently, too.

Keystone’s Hi-therm+ lintel has won construction product of the year at the 2018 Irish Construction Industry Awards.

The new Part L of the building regulations for non-domestic buildings will provide something of a culture shock to the industry, according to Brian Byrne of energy consultancy Net Zero, unless it quickly gets to grip with the new standard.

Leading low energy timber frame manufacturer MBC Timber Frame Ltd has completed work on another project aiming for the passive house standard.

Keystone Lintels has won the ‘best building fabric product’ award at the 2018 Housebuilder Product Awards for the company’s Hi-therm+ lintel.

The Irish Green Building Council has launched a new programme to measure the carbon footprint of construction products. The Environmental Product Declaration Ireland Programme (EPD Ireland) allows manufacturers to publish independently verified information about the environmental footprint of their products.

Glavloc has recently completed a 129 square metre three-bedroom house in Carrickmines, Dublin, using the company’s innovative rapid-build construction system, which combines off site manufacturing and on-site assembly

Leading ventilation experts Flynn Heat Recovery Systems have announced the appointment of John Corroon in a design and technical sales role at the company.

Mitsubishi Electric has launched some of the quietest air source heat pumps ever available to offer complete flexibility on where units can be installed – while boosting the unit’s energy efficiency by 7%.

Ecological Building Systems featured on a recent episode of RTE’s The Great House Revival. The show, which is presented by architect Hugh Wallace, follows homeowners undertaking the arduous task of transforming derelict properties into modern buildings.

Industry-leading mechanical ventilation company Beam Vacuum & Ventilation has announced their Axco HERU 100T mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) unit is now a certified passive house component.

Dublin-based Aru Joinery has picked up the award for best window and doors installation company at Build magazine’s 2018 Sustainable Building Awards.