From the Construct Ireland archives

Responding to the Department of Communications, Marine & Natural Resources’ Green Paper “Towards a Sustainable Energy Future for Ireland”, Mark Coyne, Technical Director of Dalkia Ireland, outlines the challenges and responses to the three main pillars of the Green Paper – sustainability, competitiveness and security of supply.

For the first time in several years, 2007 will see a budget deficit in Ireland so the question must be asked: where does this leave state aid for sustainable building? Construct Ireland’s Jeff Colley and Jason Walsh propose a new approach to improving the energy efficiency of existing homes that might even fix a few of the difficulties seen in the last eighteen months

The emergence of climate change as a serious concern has helped create a burgeoning market for a vast range of eco technologies. All too often, however, the basic principles of sustainable design are ignored or misunderstood. Chris Croly of mechanical and electrical engineers Building Design Partnership describes the detail of a building which reveals a no-nonsense attention to sustainability.

Feasta Economist Richard Douthwaite on Greenhouse Emissions and the Oil Peak

Duncan Stewart demands an energy revolution

Richard Douthwaite investigates pensions and better ways to invest in our future

Ever since the seminal Agenda 21 was endorsed by 150 nations including Ireland in 1992, increasing lip service has been paid to sustainable development in everything from government policy to manufacturers’ claims. However, as John Hearne describes, in Tralee Town Council’s Rath Oraigh housing development, local action has been taken with not only local, but global benefits that embody the principles of sustainable development.

In the hands of the right architect, meeting the passive house standard needn’t involve compromising on design. Construct Ireland visited a recently certified passive house which shows that a seamless low energy architecture is possible

A new development at Grange Lough, Rosslare, reveals that passive houses can be made Irish – both in terms of what they’re built with, and how they look.

John Hearne spoke to a number of independent energy experts to develop an impartial view of the main sustainable heating options.