The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland’s (SEAI) annual two-day business-to-business event, the Energy Show 2016, was a huge success with visitors up a quarter on last year. 

A cross sectoral group of organisations from government, local authorities, industry and charities met on 25 May to develop an ambitious strategy to improve the quality of the Irish existing housing stock 

The Irish Green Building Council has launched a voluntary quality labelling scheme for new residential development in Dublin. The label, called the Home Performance Index (HPI), goes well beyond the existing building energy rating (BER) system to look at a wider range of issues that impact the quality and sustainability of new residential construction. 

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. 

Kore, based in Kilnaleck, Co. Cavan, is the first company in Ireland to obtain integrated ISO certification for both the ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 standards from the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI). ISO 9001 is one of the most widely used management tools worldwide, while ISO 14001 is the standard for environmental management. Both standards are internationally recognised.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has launched the EXEED (Excellence in Energy Efficient Design) certified programme, a new management framework which complements the Irish Energy Efficient Design Standard IS399. Up to €250,000 per applicant has been made available in 2016 for businesses or organisations undertaking a building retrofit, facility or process upgrade which follows the EXEED principles to maximise energy efficiency. 

As part of the CavityTherm built-in full fill insulation system, Xtratherm have developed CavityTherm Flex, a continuous wall insulation system delivering “ultimate thermal performance” with the addition of a flexible 25mm fibre to accept uneven surfaces 

Innovative ventilation supplier Lunos has picked up awards for its decentralised heat recovery ventilation and demand-controlled ventilation systems. 

Green Building TV, a new community platform that uses video to communicate ideas, products and services between buyers and sellers — all relating to the sustainable construction sector — is set to go live in mid June. 

Fixing specialist Ancon has launched a brand new ultra-low thermal conductivity wall tie