From the Construct Ireland archives

Ireland's first passive house development emerged as the big winner at the inaugural Isover Energy Efficiency Awards in February. We look at the winner and other finalists

In the third installment of a new feature on international green buildings, Lenny Antonelli takes a look at more innovative, sustainable and striking buildings from around the world.

 
A framework for strategic sustainability is essential if we’re serious about greening the Irish built environment.
According to green architect Pat Barry, we should look no further than The Natural Step.

Green architect Minka McInerney profiles six unique green buildings including a cardboard school building, a globe-trotting recycled museum & the tallest timber building in the world

Built on stilts, entirely encased in recycled newspaper insulation on all sides, and designed to be easily taken apart so that its constituent elements can be reused once it reaches its end of life, Portlaoise Locomotive Drivers Building could hardly be more green. But it is – it’s a certified passive house. Iarnród Éireann senior architect David Hughes explains how such a sustainable exemplar came to be.

‘Interest in sustainable construction, both from private sector individuals and businesses and from the public sector has grown rapidly in the last couple of years. Unfortunately the ability of the industry to respond to this interest is under developed’ – Tom Woolley.

The Sun in Action by Paul Dykes, Marketing Manager of Sustainable Energy Ireland.

Creating the right comfort in buildings for elderly people involves ensuring a warm internal environment, which typically results in high energy consumption. John Hearne visited the new Castle Gardens Retirement Village as it approached completion and found a project that combines complimentary low energy technologies, materials and design to deliver high levels of comfort whilst also keeping running costs, energy consumption and carbon emissions low

Every eurozone government has debt problems and is cutting its spending, Richard Douthwaite says. Defaults and a prolonged depression are inevitable unless countries inject money into their economies in an unconventional way. A prosperous low-carbon economy would be the result

Everyone agrees that the standard of building materials must be maintained but is localised technical certification resulting in a death of innovative and environmentally friendly building products and systems reaching the Irish market? Construct Ireland's Jason Walsh & Jeff Colley investigate.