Roof window manufacturer Fakro has announced the award of a Passive House Institute certificate for its quadruple-glazed FTT U8 Thermo roof window, which has a U-value of 0.58.

Ecocem Ireland announced last week that its plans to create 61 jobs as part of a new three year, €19m investment programme coinciding with the official opening of its new facility at Dublin Port. The new plant will be used to bag Ecocem’s low carbon cement. The company said that the carbon footprint of its product is more than 50% lower than traditional cement.

Baumit will showcase an "innovative" new external thermal insulation technology on 5-7 March at EcoBuild 2013 in Excel, London. The Baumit OPEN external wall insulation (EWI) system is a thin coat render system for solid wall construction.

With the deadline fast approaching, the bulk of the editorial content for our inaugural UK edition has been confirmed. Curiosity getting the better of you? The following issue overview may make the anticipation unbearable…

Professor Wolfgang Feist has been awarded an honorary fellowship by the Royal Institute of British Architects. The award ceremony took place on 6 February.

Welcome to the website of Passive House Plus, an award winning magazine about building and upgrading to the highest standards of energy efficiency, health, comfort and sustainability. At the time of writing the site has been published as a beta version, and can be viewed on PCs, laptops or tablets, with formatting for smart phones set to follow imminently. 

We’re delighted to announce that Passive House Plus has won the business magazine of the year award at the 2012 Irish Magazine Awards.

The judges of the awards – which were announced at a swanky event at Dublin’s Clyde Court Hotel in December – cited the magazine’s "high editorial and design standards” and “commitment to audience engagement”.

The Passive House Institute has announced that it certified 134 products last year, a new record. These components included everything from sliding doors and dome lights to balcony systems.

The Passive House Association of Ireland has called on the government to adopt the passive house standard as the national minimum building standard for Ireland, and to support "a series of passive house exemplary buildings across the country".

Leading green architect Miles Sampson and contractor Niall Dolan of GreenTec Homes have joined forces to launch Quality Eco Homes, a new company that will offer complete sustainable design and build service.

Galway-based passive house specialists Scandinavian Homes has just completed their 51st Irish project to the passive house standard, at Spiddal, Co Galway. The company's Lars Pettersson told Passive House Plus magazine that there's never been a more cost-effective time to build a passive house. 

Green cement supplier Ecocem are giving away €3,000 of low carbon durable concrete in a competition for residential construction projects. 

Velux has warned that if the British government's 'green deal' fails to win the confidence of consumers it could be a "kick in the teeth" for the energy efficiency retrofit market. The green deal will allow homeowners to pay for energy upgrades via loans paid back through their energy bills. 

Nu Flow Ireland recently completed a successful sewage pipe retrofit project in Cork which the company said helped to avoid major disruption to five local properties, and yielded various environmental benefits too.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has introduced estimated running costs for heat pumps into its monthly domestic fuel costs report. 

The figures for July released by SEAI now include a section on electricity used by heat pumps, highlighting the difference in operating costs for heat pump technology over other fuels for the first time.

Construct Ireland is to be renamed Passive House Plus, with separate editions published for the Irish and UK markets.

The first issue of Passive House Plus will be published as an Ireland only edition in October, with separate Irish and UK editions set to be published early in 2013.

Bord Gáis has ceased offering home insulation products and boiler installations through its Home Team division due to a drop off in demand. The company will continue to offer boiler servicing and repair.

The move reflects the recent nationwide decline in home energy upgrades, a trend that is investigated in the new issue of Construct Ireland.

Less than a third of new Irish homes meet energy efficiency and carbon emissions regulations, according to new figures. The number of new homes meeting the rules has also declined dramatically since 2005, according to data released by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland.

Dr Brian Motherway has been appointed chief executive officer of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). Motherway joined SEAI in 2006 and has recently held the role of chief operations officer. He holds bachelor and master's degrees in chemical engineering and a PhD in Sociology.

The government has launched a public consultation on its proposed new building control regulations. Environment minister Phil Hogan announced the new rules last year following the high profile failure of the Priory Hall development in Dublin to meet fire regulations, but details have just been released.