I blogged last week about plans by the British Conservative Party to introduce a pay-as-you-save scheme that would allow consumers to energy upgrade their homes and pay for the work over time on their bills.

An article in the Guardian by the party's energy and climate spokesperson Greg Clark offers more detail. Clark writes:

That is why I set out our green deal – an ambitious plan to give every home in Britain an entitlement to energy efficiency improvements up to £6,500 in value. Every homeowner would be entitled to an independent assessment of what energy efficiency work is worthwhile and would save money.

They then get an entitlement to have these improvements carried out immediately by a kite-marked installer at no upfront cost. The cost of the work is repaid over 25 years via the home's energy bills.

The assessment will ensure that the measures carried out will be those where savings in energy bills are greater than the cost of repaying the amount borrowed. That means that families will be able to make their homes more efficient, pay back the cost over time, and still save money from day one.

He adds:

Yesterday we took this policy a step further. We announced that the mayor of London and 14 local councils, covering between them more than 6m homes, have agreed to pilot our green deal scheme should a Conservative government be elected next year.

Importantly, these local authorities have local expertise and knowledge, and will help us to roll the green deal out on a street-by-street basis, targeting first those people most in need of cutting their fuel bills and heating their homes.

As well as helping more families, a properly national scheme has other advantages. It could directly create 36,000 jobs in installing and surveying, with a further 42,000 jobs indirectly created in the energy efficiency supply chain. And because we are committed to apprenticeships, we will ensure one in 10 of the new direct jobs created by the green deal are to be "green apprenticeships" – over 3,500 new apprenticeships in total.

Interestingly, Clark criticises the (UK) Labour Party's plans for a pay-as-you-save scheme, claiming it will help only 500 families over two years. And that does seem to be the case - see details of Labour's plans here.
 

Two big home energy upgrade stories to report on this morning.

As the climate change talks continue to stutter in Copenhagen, UK Conservative Party leader David Cameron has pledged to kick start £20bn of home energy retrofits in the UK if his party is elected to government next year. According to the Guardian, six million British households would each be offered £6,500 of energy efficiency measures.

Cameron is proposing a pay-as-you-save type scheme, under which households would pay for the upgrades through resulting savings on their energy bills. Patrick Wintour and Nicholas Watt report:

Cameron's plans for a multibillion-pound investment in energy efficiency are part of a strategy to make environmentalism relevant. Companies such as Tesco would lag lofts and insulate walls, then share the resulting savings in electricity bills with householders over a minimum 15-20 years.

The councils that have struck deals with the Tories would not only offer insulation packages, but also identify the streets most in need of help. A household with the most basic package of measures could expect to see savings of £360 a year on its heating bills, with an energy-efficiency provider putting in an initial investment of £1,500. Some of the savings would go towards repaying the upfront costs of the improvements. Households saving £360 a year would need to pay £120 towards the £1,500 investment, but would keep the remaining £240 a year for themselves.

Meanwhile Barack Obama has called on the US Congress to provide more financial incentives for homeowners to upgrade, describing insulation as "sexy stuff" - yes I'm serious, see the report. "“The simple act of retrofitting these [old] buildings to make them more energy efficient … is one of the fastest, easiest and cheapest things we can do to put Americans back to work while saving families money and reducing harmful emissions," Obama said. 

As it says on the tin - if you know of any other interesting stories please do share.

Gormley to set targets for carbon emissions reductions today: Irish Times

UK boiler scrappage scheme to help 125,000 householders upgrade their gas boilers to new, high efficiency models - sounds like a much better idea than a car scrappage scheme to me: Guardian

Cloud computing recommended for energy efficiency: Energy Saving Trust

Green architect Malcolm Wells dies at 83: New York Times

Self destructing bacteria could be key to better biofuels: Inhabitat

UK houses spending more on going green: Guardian (some figures on this here)

Copenhagen climate talks should put big focus on retrofitting existing buildings: ereleases

UK cannot meet carbon reduction targets unless commercial sector embarks on massive retrofit drive: Telegraph

Can windows perform better than walls in energy terms?: Green Building Advisor

We all know the three Rs of waste, but reducing and recycling often get a lot more attention than reusing. But now a report from the UK's Bioregional Development Group and construction waste reclamation body Salvo has re-iterated that reusing materials offers greater environmental benefits than recycling.

Via Treehugger.com, BioRegional's Jonathan Essex says: "Pushing reuse clearly shows the benefits that reuse brings over recycling. For example, if we reclaimed 50% of reusable iron and steel the carbon savings would be equivalent to taking 29,000 cars off the road - and that's for just two materials. Yes, reclamation is currently more labour intensive than recycling which makes it more expensive, but it creates green jobs and products that often have a higher value than recycled - for instance reclaimed bricks are worth much more than bricks recycled into aggregate."

The report - available here - makes some key recommendations to British policy makers: create a "reuse champion" to direct investment in new capacity and R&D, provide information to the public and work with government to promote reuse; invest in storage and re-processing capacity for reuse of construction products; set targets for the reuse of construction waste and support reuse through planning policy; incentivise reuse and reclamation by adding materials to the EU emissions trading scheme; and direct landfill revenues to reuse before recycling.

Anyone interested in this topic should check out our article Deconstruct Ireland - it's all about designing buildings for disassembly and reuse.

When I covered the Serve project in North Tipperary for the latest issue of Construct Ireland, one thing struck me: how difficult it is to convince householders to upgrade their homes. Serve is an EU-funded sustainable energy project that is grant-aiding home energy upgrades alongside the Home Energy Saving (HES) scheme in North Tipp - more info on Serve here.

The idea of Serve is to get householders to undertake the basic insulation and heating upgrades under HES -  and then go further with additional measures under Serve. Between HES and Serve homeowners can get up to 70% of the cost of an energy upgrade - but it's still a hard sell.

When I interviewed Paul Kenny from the Tipperary Energy Agency, he said most homeowners were reluctant to upgrade, and that those in houses built post-1990 were particularly disinterested. Many believed their houses to be energy efficient. Of course this generally isn't the case - according to SEI's latest stats, most building energy ratings (BERs) for existing dwellings fall between a C and a G rating.

So how should energy upgrades be sold to householders? If the experience of Serve is anything to go by, even the introduction of Pay As You Save - a scheme that would enable homeowners to energy upgrade their homes and pay for it over time on their bills, spending nothing up front - might not be enough to convince a lot of people.

A first step is to make homeowners aware of the energy performance of their homes. An idea proposed by Construct Ireland, whereby BERs must be displayed on all property advertising, is included in the current programme for government. This would ensure that BERs are prominent in newspapers, on property websites, on street signs and hoardings. It should make us all much more aware of the energy performance of typical Irish homes. After all, if my neighbor is selling her house and I see she has a D, E or F rating, I'm more likely to realise that my own home's performance must be similar and think about upgrading.

But clearly this is just one step towards making people aware of the energy performance of their home and convincing them to renovate. What else can be done to entice homeowners?

You know how that famous old saying goes - there's nothing quite like some green building and energy links on a Friday afternoon.

How Malmo was transformed from a deteriorating city into a model of sustainability: Treehugger

Ecotricity launches a "green gas" derived from landfill waste - I'd be curious to hear readers' opinions and comments on this: Energy Savings Trust

Storing heat with phase change materials: Green Building Advisor

The Guardian's guide to buying a wood burning stove: Guardian

Norwegian firm tests ground-breaking osmosis power plan: Guardian

Replacing ugly construction site barries with living walls: Inhabitat

Global body needed to direct green technology, says G77: Guardian

Meant to post this yesterday but other things got the better of me - the Irish Times yesterday reported on the government's plans for a Pay As You Save type scheme. Pay As You Save is an idea proposed by Construct Ireland that would enable householders to fund energy upgrades by paying for the work on their utility bills over time. The government's proposed scheme is instead termed Save As You Pay - putting the emphasis on the saving rather than the paying.

Harry McGee writes in the Irish Times.

However, the new scheme would vastly accelerate the retro-fitting of the national housing stock, with upwards of 90,000 dwellings a year being retro-fitted over a period of 10 to 12 years.

The funding model would also radically alter in order for change of that magnitude to be achieved. Officials believe that extending the grant scheme would not be feasible or realistic.

Instead, electricity and energy utility companies would be given new obligations to reduce progressively the amount of energy they generate each year.

Their roles would change to allow them to offer retro-fitting services and financing. Homeowners would get an assessment carried out by the utility. After completion, the cost would then form part of the utility bill, to be paid off over a long period of time.

During Plan Expo earlier this month I had a chat with Amanda Gallagher and Eanna Nolan from BRE Ireland. Both raised what I thought was a valid point - that so far the drive towards green building in Ireland has focused a lot on energy use and very little on the embodied energy of building materials. After all, if we're to drastically reduce the carbon footprint of buildings, both must be tackled.

Green building standards in other countries aim to do just that: In the UK there's the voluntary Code for Sustainable Homes, which rates homes based on criteria including water efficiency and use of materials as well as energy efficiency. The BRE's own Breeam rating system (which is just taking off in Ireland) for non-domestic buildings examines a similarly wide range of criteria, as does the US Leed system.

Why have we been comparatively slow to focus on materials and other sustainability criteria here? Is it a result of the dominance of a carbon-intensive building industry - traditional concrete - here, or is it down to something else? 

 

 

It seems the White House is considering a national weatherization ('energy upgrade' in our language) programme for 2009 that, according to GreenBuildingAdvisor.com, will aim to "demystify weatherization for homeowners, help contractors market a new set of government incentives to weatherize, and create a rush to retrofit".

Two strategies have been proposed for the programme - more details here - but I'm just going to mention the one proposed by Bill Clinton, because it's quite simililar to the Pay As You Save scheme proposed by us at Construct Ireland.

Richard Defendorf writes:

The Clinton plan... would apply to both residential and commercial improvement projects, would reallocate clean-energy money from the stimulus bill that has not yet been spent and would offer building owners a fixed set of climate-appropriate improvements designed specifically for buildings in their region. This plan also includes a financing program that would attach the loan payments to the upgraded property’s tax bill, working in much the same way as the bond-funded Property Assessed Clean Energy program has been working for dozens of municipalities and many states (PACE was adopted this week by the state of New York).

The logic of letting homeowners pay for upgrades over time on their energy bills continues to catch on. 

Martin Holladay has posted a very good guide to the basics of low energy building & retrofit on GreenBuildingAdvisor.com. He wisely avoids mentioning too much green "bling" and instead focuses on smart design and a well-insulated, air tight envelope. The basic principles? Don't build too big, orient the house correctly, choose the right windows, design an air-tight layer and insulate well.

The International Living Building Institute - no I hadn't heard of it either - has just released the latest version of its green building standard, which appears to go beyond any other building rating system out there. Any "certified living building" must be net-zero energy, net-zero water, provide for restoration habitats, and include space for food growing, among other requirements.

Rather than just being rated based on plans or an initial inspection, buildings aspiring to the standard must be surveyed a year after construction is finished.

Full details on the standard can be downloaded here.

The Rocky Mountain Institute has just launched Green Footstep, a free online carbon calculator that it claims can assess emissions over a building's life-cycle.

One of the program's developers, Michael Bendewald, explains how it works: "Since we all have bank accounts, allow me to use an accounting metaphor to explain Green Footstep's way of showing a project's carbon emissions. The native-state carbon storage of a site, including such things as standing timber and other vegetation that existed before development, is the amount of carbon the owner of the facility ‘owns.’ Any carbon emissions send the owner into a ‘carbon debt.’ In order for a project to be ‘carbon neutral,’ this debt must be paid off and the original amount of carbon – equal in magnitude to the native-state carbon storage – must be restored. Green Footstep allows designers to adjust design targets, such as building energy use intensity and incorporating more renewables, that will get the building out of the carbon debt, edging the building closer to carbon neutrality."

I wonder if the software will provide the depth of detail that many green architects and designers look for in tools like this. If anyone tries it, let us know. The tool is available here.

 

 

 

After the madness of the last issue deadline and Plan Expo, everything is getting back to normal here in the Construct Ireland offices. We'd love to hear your thoughts on the last issue, so feel free to leave your comments below or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Here's a few interesting green links worth gawking at:

Students at the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales are starting to blog about their experiences studying there: Cat

Attic insulation upgrades - historic homes require compromise: Green Building Advisor

Could encasing cities in giant domes be an energy solution for the future (sounds a bit mad I know, but iit was actually considered for a US town in the 70s): Inhabitat

Sweden is burning biofuel made from bunnies: Inhabitat

A bright nuclear future for Britain: true or false? Guardian

The economic establishment accepts the world soon won't be able to meet energy demands, but wants to keep quiet about it: Guardian

Padraic Davis is speaking about retrofitting of historic buildings in Ireland and Germany:

 11.30am: Study that compared Irish and Norweigan buildings between the mid eighties and mid nineties found an avg indoor temperature of 15C in Ireland and 21C in Norway

 11.31am: Applying any substances to the walls of historic buildings that block moisture can cause mould, moisture and cracking. Materials used when upgrading historic buildings need to be hygroscopic

11.34am: Padraic is talking about fairly significant grants that were available for energy retrofitting & renewables in Berlin - in 1993

11.38am: Davis is talking about Booterstown convent now, profiled recently in Construct Ireland.  He's pointing out that conservation concerns meant no insulation could be applied to the walls of the historic building during the retrofit

11.43am:  Sand-lime (calcium silicate) board is an ideal material for insulating historic buildings - has good hygroscopic properties 

11.48am:  Studies in Germany have indicated that sand-lime boards (lime mixed with sand and then baked) performed well in terms of water management and thermal performance. Heat loss through the walls was reduced by more than 50 per cent

11.50am: Properties of lime cause water to be drawn out of the wall 

11.51am: Internal insulation requires the use of a vapour-permeable material

11.53am: The government should set up a state bank to fund building energy renovations

Q&A

11.54am: Audience member asks Padraic of potential for mechanical ventilation in historic buildings, and whether this would allow for more insulation to be installed as it would remove moisture from the air and help to prevent condensation. Davis says he has issues with mechanical ventilation in residential buildings because there is no culture of building maintenance in Ireland and these systems need to be checked every few months, he says. He has installed mechanical ventilation in historic buildings but isn't sure he'd recommend it all the time. 

11.58am: Davis recommends using lime-sand boards for upgrading historic buildings as it can halve the U-value of the walls, though he stresses such products are new to Ireland

That's all from Padraic Davis, next speech to be live-blogged here :

Leading green architect Joseph Little speaking on "ensuring robustness, health and value when retrofitting":

12.04pm: Everything in Irish architecture in the past was about keeping water out and maintaining building strength - now we need to think about energy, air tightness, humidity and climate change too

12.07pm: Single biggest heat loss point in a house is the chimney - an air balloon for just €30 can solve this 

12.10pm: It could be much more cost effective to energy-upgrade old buildings than houses from the 70s and 80s - insulation measures pay back quicker

12.14pm: Our "hole in the wall" ventilation method is dreadful - government seems reluctant to ban it, but now is the time to get rid of it. It's draughty, it loses too much heat, doesn't ventilate where it's needed, and only works if the wind is blowing the right direction

12.15pm: Heat recovery ventilation can be a good alternative, but it must be designed properly. Many systems installed are not actually meeting the building regulations (Part F)

12.17pm: Passive stack ventilation is another option - it's cheaper than HRV and doesn't require power, but isn't suitable for every building

12.20pm: Like Padraic Davis, Little is impressed by the potential of calcium silicate boards for internal insulation - he has a sample of one example of the material, the Calcitherm product from Ecological Building Systems

12.29: Little's conclusions: holes-in-the-wall should be banned as a method of ventilation, all whole-building ventilation systems should be certified to meet the building regs, the government should launch a public information campaign on the most effective energy upgrade measures, and the government needs to issue guidelines on upgrading common types of buildings, and these guidelines should consider different moisture conditions in different areas around the country.

Little is finished now - click 'Blogs' up the top for the next live blog. 

Niels-Ulrik Kofoed is speaking about Danish experience of building energy upgrades:

My laptop battery is on the way out so I probably won't make it through all of this  - thanks for reading, and please leave your comments on Rebuilding Ireland or Plan Expo below.

 12.39pm: Payback period of energy upgrade measures should be less than two thirds of the lifetime of the measures to be economically feasible

12.41pm: New 2010 Danish building regs will aim to reduce energy consumption of new buildings by 25%, with 50% and 75% reductions on current standards to follow in 2015 and 2020

12.44pm:  Apartment blocks and houses built post-1930 are ideal for energy upgrades in Denmark

12.46pm: Kofoed is referring to a housing retrofit project in Denmark that was able to reduce the building's energy consumption by 25% through passive design principles - changing the configuration and location of windows to let solar light and heat in in the right areas

12.49pm: Pre-fabrication in controlled factory conditions is the way to build low-energy, air-tight houses

12.51pm: In Denmark buildings from the 1930-50s and 60s-70s are ideal for retrofitting as there are no conservation restrictions on these time periods

12.52pm: Insulation of hot water pipes is an important but sometimes overlooked aspect of retrofitting, particularly in large buildings

One minute of battery left - that's all from me folks. Seeing as this was our first live blogging attempt it went okay-ish. Would love to read your comments below. 

I blogged the pre-lunch session at Rebuilding Ireland live this morning, but was interrupted for a while by some wi-fi problems. So here's a not-so-live blog of the bits I didn't cover at the time.

Speech by energy minister Eamon Ryan:

9.26am:  Government aims to introduce pay-as-you-save type scheme next year, allowing householders to pay for energy upgrades over time on their energy bills

9.25am: Ryan says bureaucracy associated with government energy grant programmes has been drastically reduced through web-based applications so far

9.23am: About 30,000 applications so far for Home Energy Saving Scheme

9.20am:  Ryan says he's energy-upgraded his own house recently and that he now realises the value of undertaking insulation measures. 

 9.28am Energy upgrades mean keeping money in the country by paying for work done here and preventing money going to oil and gas producers outside of Ireland

9.30am: Ryan says US energy secretary Steven Chu told him retrofitting of buildings is the most important thing US can do to reduce its carbon emissions

9.32am: Ireland will be one of the leading countries in the world in the roll out of electric vehicles, Ryan says. Cars can become energy storage systems.

9.33am: Ryan - our first goal is to insulate our homes and public buildings

9.34am: Minister says that once consumer fear abates people will start spending, and that he wants people to spend on energy-saving measures and green technology

Speech by Martin Colreavy, chief architect at the Dept of the Environment

9.47am: 15 key objectives in new national architecture policy backed up by 45 specific actions

9.53am: Colreavy mentions the need for sustainability indicators for whole communities and urban areas, not just for buildings 

9.54am: It's not just about the buildings, it's about the space between too: we need to consider amenities and social infrastructure in creating sustainable communities

9.56am: Colreavy praises the Open House programme, which enables people to explore architecturally interesting private and buildings around Dublin (and for the first time this year, Galway) for one weekend each year

9.58am: Department needs to work more with other institutions - local authorities and academia are given examples - in implementing the national architecture policy

10:01am: New government policy on architecture fits within framework for sustainable economic recovery. The sort of decisions we make now about energy efficiency and retrofitting are an investment in the future

Speech by Declan Hughes, head of competitiveness at Forfas, Ireland's competitiveness and building a green economy:

10.06am: We need to reduce costs right across the economy, enhance education and training for the unemployed, and restore our international reputation

10.08am: Ireland is ideally positioned to be a leading green economy: we have excellent natural wind and ocean resources, expanding R&D in green sectors, and great opportunities for energy efficiency and resource efficiency as businesses seek to reduce costs

10.09: EU has mandated that 50% of government procurement be green by 2010

10.10: Our strong reputation as a "green island" is another advantage in positioning Ireland as a pioneering green economy

10.12 Hughes shows a graph comparing government expenditure versus income as a % of GNP - the rapid divergence in the last few years is just a bit frightening

10.13: Ireland's exports have held up relatively well despite the economic decline

10.14: A carbon tax will incentivise "eco efficiency" and broaden the tax base, while a value-based property tax will help to get the property sector moving

10.15am: Forfas have been looking at the potential of changes to stamp duty for energy efficient homes

10.16am: High electricity and energy costs have provided incentives to Irish companies to reduce consumption and introduce efficiencies

10.18am: Global green good & services market to be worth €800 billion by 2015. 90% of this is in OECD countries

10:20am: The green goods and services market in Ireland, excluding eco-construction, is worth €2.8 billion

10.21am: Discussion of various green stimulus plants now - China's seems the largest at €221 billion

10.22am: Key green sectors for export and jobs in Ireland: eco-construction, renewable energy, energy efficiency for new build and retrofit, waste resource recovery, water and wastewater

10.24am: 40 per cent of treated drinking water still leaks from the system in Ireland

10.25am: From an enterprise development perspective, government capital investment should focus on energy infrastructure and grid re-enforcement, advanced broadband access and bringing fibre-optic cables to homes, water and waste, completing specific road upgrades and public transport

10.28am: Public sector should lead by example in terms of the energy efficiency of its buildings













 

Apologies - we had major wi-fi problems this morning when attempting to live blog from the Rebuilding Ireland conference at Plan Expo. Rebuilding Ireland is examining ways to create a sustainable construction sector in Ireland. Wi fi is back now - blog posts on this morning's speeches by Eamon Ryan, Construct Ireland editor Jeff Colley, Dept of Environment chief architect Martin Colreavy and Forfas's Declan Hughes will appear online later today.  Live blogging of speeches by Jay Stuart on "repositioning Ireland as a green construction sector", and by architect Elizabeth Francis, will appear here over the next hour and a half.  

9.26am:  Government aims to introduce pay-as-you-save type scheme next year

9.25am: Ryan says bureaucracy associated with government energy grant programmes has been drastically reduced through web-based applications so far

9.23am: About 30,000 applications so far for Home Energy Saving Scheme

9.20am:  Ryan says he's energy-upgraded his own house recently and that he now realises the value of undertaking insulation measures. 

Highlights of speech by Jay Stuart on repositioning Ireland as a green construction hub. Stuart is an architect and  sustainable design consultant with DW Ecoco & Durkan Ecofix.

11.45am: Green building doesn't cost that much more with good design. Return on investment is generally over 10% for the extra costs involved. 

11.47am: Stewart says he has implemented the principles of The Natural Step in his own business

11.50am: It's crucial we use existing sustainable building experience to market ourselves outside Ireland

11.53am: Plants can be used in innovative ways to cool, clean and oxygenise air inside building

11.54am: We don't need many new houses so the focus will be on retrofitting. US experience indicates that we should have efficiency portfolio managers working towards specific reductions in energy consumption

11.56am: Spirt of Ireland can provide jobs, greatly improve our energy independence and boost balance of trade

 11.59am: We need a set of principles for greening the building industry that we all agree to work to. Stewart proposes The Natural Step

12.00am: Spirit of Ireland should be supported and built, transition towns should be applied to communities across the country

12:01am: Building industry needs to upskill for green building. Stewart proposes a centre of excellence for sustainable building.

12.03am: Stewart's finished now, Donegal-born Elizabeth Francis of renowned architects Mario Cucinella is about to speak. Go here for the live blog: http://constructireland.ie/index.php?option=com_myblog&Itemid=107〈=en

Highlights of speech by Elizabeth Francis of renowned architects Mario Cucinella (MCA) at Rebuilding Ireland conference:

 12.07pm: In Italy, peak demand for electricity is starting to exceed supply at times

 12.09pm: We can't put off sustainability any longer, our precarious energy situation demands we consider it now

12.16pm: Now telling the story of how the firm set about designing an evaporative cooling system

12.18pm: Unlike in conventionally air conditioned buildings which use mechanical systems, we decided to design a building form that uses cooling towers with evaporative cooling to cool air and distribute it through natural buoyancy

12.21pm: Such a system can allow for natural cooling in deep plan areas of office buildings

12.22pm: Computer-based visualisation was crucial to tweaking the system before it was finalised. The system can save up to 80% energy consumption compared to a conventional air conditioned building

12.24pm: MCA wanted to build an experimental home for €100,000 that had a low environmental impact and was appealing to the Italian lifestyle

12.26pm: The cost is €1,000 per square metre

12.27pm: Basic model is a concrete framed building with different cladding and glazing options. It's a "zero carbon" home.  Wind energy and PV are optional

12.28pm: It may be a modular home but it's also context and climate specific, the typology can be applied to many different contexts and locations

 12.29pm: With a feed in tariff for home renewable electricity production the house starts to become cheaper over time, as it produces more energy than it consumes 

12.30pm: MCA examined whether the 100k building would work in Ireland. They found that choosing the right components can create an "energy plus" building - one that produces more energy than it consumes  - even in the Irish climate

12.35pm: Now talking about a retrofit project in the historical centre of Cremona in Italy

 12.36pm: Aim was to be sensitive to context of historic centre of the town. Contemporary interpretation of historic shutters common to the area was central to the design

12.38pm: For the retrofit of a building complex in Milan, MCA reduced solar heat gain using a double-glass skin, and designed a glass canopy roof in the courtyard between four buildings to create a unifying space between them

12.44pm: Now showing an MCA-designed passive house with a much higher budget than the 100k house, in this case €2,500 per square meter. It's an apartment building in Paris. 

12.48pm: Interesting architectural forms are still possible when working to the passive house standard

12.51pm: Now showing MCA-designed Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies, previously featured in Construct Ireland. 

Elizabeth is finished now. Later on today I'll post highlights of this morning's speeches which weren't live-blogged due to wi-fi problems.