Retrofit

Renovated agricultural barn marries its traditional look with modern green features

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

Any building, no matter how cold and draughty, no matter how remote, can be improved to world-class energy performance, as an upgraded and extended Donegal cottage dating back to the 1800s proves.

Sligo estate house adds hemp lime extension & renovation with vertical bore-hole heat pump

G rated Limerick semi-d upgraded to A3 with full envelope & heating system upgrade

Four years ago the construction industry was focused on building big and fast — but at the same time, a small team was carefully and ecologically retrofitting a terraced Dublin house on a tight budget according to passive house principles.

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.

Is it possible to ditch fossil fuels and run a 1970s Irish bungalow on solar energy? Norman McMillan’s renovated A1-rated bungalow in Carlow proves it is. 

During his tenure as energy minister Eamon Ryan instigated plans to energy upgrade Ireland’s draughty, damp housing stock. Ryan and his wife, writer Victoria White, show Construct Ireland how their own home has been given the green treatment, and architect Mike Haslam of Solearth describes the project.

High levels of external insulation, abundant natural light and a minimalist approach to ventilation are ensuring that Malahide Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is as green as its courts