Open Source Content Management

Climate science and building science are set to intersect at a passive house conference in New York on 17 June.

In an ecological project that wil be groundbreaking in a literal and figurative sense, a highly unusual earth mound passive house has just gained planning permission in the Cotswolds.

Building with an eye to energy efficiency is not only cost-effective, it can also augment architectural design. This has been proven by the winners of the 2014 Passive House Award. Six buildings and one region were recognised today at the opening of the International Passive House Conference in Aachen: an apartment block in Berlin; a New York retrofit; a seminar building in Goesan, South Korea; an art museum in Ravensburg, Germany; a building complex in Espoo, Finland; a terraced house in Philadelphia; and an entire passive house district in Heidelberg.

The winners of the first ever Passive House Component Award, with a total of twelve passive house windows set to receive recognition at the International Passive House Conference later this month. The real winners, however, are the building owners, as the results of this international competition demonstrate that it's possible to save money with highly efficient building components. Manufacturers offered their products at retail prices including installation for an example building. For each of the four categories - PVC, wood, wood/aluminium, and aluminium - the overall investment and energy costs saved in comparison with standard windows were the decisive factor. The awards will be presented at the International Passive House Conference taking place from 25 to 26 April in Aachen, Germany.

The Better Building Conference returns for a 3rd year on 9 April at Croke Park Dublin with a genuinely exciting line up of inspiring case studies of future innovations and essential information on the new building control regulations. This full day conference is packed with presentations and panel discussions in three parallel streams and has plenty of important networking opportunities. Don't miss out on what has genuinely become one of the key events in Ireland's construction calendar. Click here to view the full programme, and click here to register now.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland Energy Show 2014 takes place at the RDS in Dublin on 12 and 13 March.

Kensa Heat Pumps has announced Lord Taylor of Goss Moor as its new chairman. According to Kensa the peer's appointment will be instrumental in the Cornish company’s growth as the UK’s leading supplier of ground source heat pumps.

Low energy design specialists Accredited Passivhaus Design (APD) are promoting the design of affordable housing to the passive house standard at Ecobuild from 4 to 6 March. According to APD, the passive house approach can reduce rent arrears while reducing the need for off-site allowable solutions as part of compliance with the UK's zero-carbon homes target in 2016. Part of the UK government's proposal for zero carbon homes, allowable solutions permits the counting of carbon credits as a carbon reduction strategy for buildings.

The Passive House Institute is set to launch details of Passive House Plus and Passive House Premium - two new categories of building certification designed to add microgeneration of energy into the world's leading low energy standard.

Leading passive house and low energy glazing brand Optiwin has announced that it is looking for small to medium sized manufacturing partners in the UK via Berkana Green, its exclusive licenced sales agent for England, Scotland and Wales.