Passive house indeed works everywhere was the core message at the second annual South Pacific Passive House Conference, writes Andrew Michler. The conference was held in Melbourne on 12-13 February. While just a handful of passive houses have been completed in Australia so far, a sizable contingent from New Zealand came to the conference armed with multiple examples of how even warm climate buildings benefit from the energy savings, comfort and critically the health of a passive house. With a major spike in asthma from damp and mouldy homes, the principles such as airtightness, controlled air exchange, and thermal bridge free design are finally being accepted as the best solution in this part of the world. 

The shortlist of projects for this year’s 2016 UK Passivhaus Awards has been announced. There are just two categories this year, urban and rural, with Rehau being the main sponsor. 

On 20 April the Irish arm of the world’s largest heat pump manufacturer, Daikin, hosted a social housing forum at the Mullingar Park Hotel in Westmeath. Attendees primarily included architects, consultants, and representatives of housing bodies and local authority housing departments from all over the country. 

Leading external insulation supplier Hammond Roof & Energy has launched a new technical roadshow series promoting the Soltherm external insulation system – at a live passive house construction site in Carlow.

Passive house building envelope specialist training is now available at Ecological Building Systems, complementing the array of award-winning training courses Ecological have been delivering for almost 15 years now 

The winners of the Passive House Component Award 2016, which focuses on ventilation solutions in the retrofit of residential buildings, have been announced.

 With Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown making passive house or equivalent energy efficiency standards mandatory for all new builds in a historic vote, the German-Irish Chamber of Industry & Commerce’s Passive House and Energy Efficiency Conference and trade mission is expected to be more relevant than ever.

This annual two-day business event, which last year saw up to 200 companies exhibit their energy saving products and services, is the premier business energy exhibition in Ireland, and a must for those interested in energy management and innovations in sustainable energy solutions.

Heat Merchants and HomeBond co-hosted the National Construction Industry Conference last November in Croke Park’s Conference Centre to review key issues and deliver insights to over 210 architects, engineers, planners and developers. The topics centred around key issues which will influence the future of the construction industry in Ireland, including liability, health & safety plus the implications of recent and upcoming additions to various sections of the building regulations.

Stephen Fry has been announced as the special guest at Ecobuild 2016, the UK’s largest show dedicated to construction and energy. The erudite writer, actor and campaigner joins a lineup of industry leaders and experts.

This year’s Light + Building show, the leading European trade show for lighting and building services engineering, takes place from 13 to 18 March at Messe Frankfurt, Germany. In addition to its exhibition of the latest and most innovative products, the show will feature an extensive complementary programme of other events.

The AECB, the Association for Environment Conscious Building, is hosting a number of passive house courses this spring – ranging from courses to become certified passive house designers to “bite size” training sessions for designers who wish to familiarise themselves with the standard.

Industry experts Mark Siddall and Nick Grant will deliver a masterclass that examines the potential causes of overheating, and how to design, build and operate a passive building in order to prevent overheating problems, on 15 February in the Saint-Gobain Innovation Centre in London. 

Passive house is now 25 years old, and to celebrate this, the International Passive House Conference is returning to Darmstadt – the German city in which this success story began.

International Passive House Association to make presentations at Paris climate talks 

Stevens Institute of Technology won top honours overall at the US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015 by designing, building, and operating the most  cost-effective, energy efficient, and attractive solar powered house at the competition. Dubbed ‘Sure House’, the building also meets passive house standards for heating demand and airtightness and features heat recovery ventilation.

The Passive House Academy, in association with Saint-Gobain, will run a Passive House Tradesperson course on 21 and 22 October at the Saint-Gobain Technical Academy in Erith, Kent. The course will cover passive house design principles, U-value calculations, thermal bridging and airtightness, insulation materials, passive house glazing, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery systems, and much more.

Tipperary Energy Agency has announced the launch of its Superhomes pilot project, which is seeking 20 suitable homes anywhere in Ireland to undertake an energy retrofit. The works will be financed by the Better Energy Scheme and run in conjunction with AIB and Electric Ireland.

The winners of the Passivhaus Trust's 2015 UK Passivhaus Awards were announced at a ceremony in London on Wednesday night. The awards aim to celebrate the design and performance of passive house buildings in the UK. 

At this year's International Passive House Conference in Germany, the Pioneer Award will recognise early Canadian landmarks in energy effiicent building, and in particular the groundbreaking Saskatchewan Conservation House.