From the Construct Ireland archives

With an economy fuelled by a government approach to planning that many people equate to a road building and house building free for all, it should come as no surprise that quality of life suffers

In this fifth & final article in the series, Joseph Little compares simulations of several internal insulation options on common wall types, with worrying conclusions

While the principles of low energy building apply equally for new build and upgrades, the reality is that htting passive levels becomes much trickier when retrofitting. The Passive House Institute have taken this on board and created a retrofit standard that is ambitious but achievable.

Foxrock passive development built with externally insulated poroton & aircrete blocks along with timber frame

The Carroll’s cigarette factory in Dundalk has been reborn as an avant garde exemplar of wind energy storage and an ingenious approach to integrated heating, ventilation and cooling, as sustainable design expert Chris Croly of BDP explains.

The government is aiming to energy upgrade one million buildings by 2020, but huge investment will be needed to reach that goal as finance expert Jack O’Keeffe of Larchmont Consulting explains

Achieving building regulations compliance and a good energy rating is one thing. Delivering a genuinely low energy building is quite another. A new scheme by one of Ireland’s most decorated developers may help show the market a way forward.

Buildings that are designed or refurbished to use little energy all too often fail to deliver the expected performance, if the building occupants aren’t able to use the building as intended. John Hearne reveals the crucial role that user-friendly heating controls play in ensuring that a theoretically low energy building delivers the expected results.

As the main attraction at the Spring House and Garden Show in the RDS earlier this year, the “Eco House” claimed to offer the house buying public an entirely ecologically sound new home, with considerations for energy efficiency, the environment and health evident in the design, structure, materials and technologies showcased in the house. Construct Ireland spoke to the house’s architect, John Goulding and Director of Century Homes, Paul MacDonald, who explain not only the technological considerations but the environmental demand for such a project.

John Goulding, the architect on the Eco House, has been actively involved in researching energy efficient design for the past 18 years, working through UCD’s influential Energy Research Group, and has worked on several European Commission funded research and building demonstration projects. He explains to Construct Ireland’s Jeff Colley how the Eco House performs.

Architect Paul Leech explains why the new Navan Credit Union is arguably Ireland’s most innovative sustainable building to date, and outlines his hopes that the experience gained from this project can help the construction industry to realise sustainable building in Ireland.