House Design Online

Hemp Symposium, Kenmare, Ireland 2009

The site has recently been updated with new information on the speakers giving presentations at the Symposium.

The Symposium will offer a broad insight into the wide ranging possibilities of the Hemp Building

system and the contribution hemp materials can make to the world of Low carbon and Natural building.

As we search for ways of reducing our CO2 emissions and addressing the issues of energy peak and food security, Hemp is proving it has a lot to offer to the production of resources.

The 1st International Hemp Building Symposium will highlight the innovative ways in which hemp materials can be used to make Hemp Fibre insulation, Hempcrete made of Hemp-lime or Hemp-clay, and Hemp Plasters, together with the design, construction and the lifestyle benefits of living in such buildings.

16-18th September 2009 in Kenmare Bay Hotel, Kenmare. Co. Kerry, Ireland.

• Presentations

• Talks

• Demonstration

• Q & A Sessions

• Displays

• Networking & Education

For More information – click on picture below

For more information - click here

Designing and building sustainably is often an afterthought or at most a “consideration” for many people. “We would like to have an ecological house but ….” Solar panels for water heating are sometimes given the same consideration as a sun roof in a car, “would be nice”.

Renewable energy technologies and type of building materials need to be part of the design package. If they get relegated to “add on” status, then they no longer become useful and may well just appear as expensive optional extras.

One of the essential considerations when designing a home for yourself is “future-proofing” at design stage. We may, for example like to plan for a time in our life when we are not as agile as we are now so that we have fewer steps and good space at ground level or consider possibility of changes in lifestyle enforced by the global economic downturn, where prehaps a space could be easily converted to a workspace for home office or for childcare.

Similarily our design needs to enable our family home to be more resilient to a time when we will no longer afford be dependent on fossil fuels to meet our energy needs.

Picture yourself and you family, where you will be in a decade or so from now and to consider what you need to include at design stage now.

Centre for Alternative Technology,  Machynlleth, Powys, SY20 9AZ, UK

ONLY A FEW PLACES LEFT SO BOOK NOW IF YOU WANT A PLACE!

This course is suitable for builders, architects and anyone who wishes to undertake the refurbishment of an existing building with minimal environmental impact both on-site and in use.
It accepts that 99.9% of us are never going to design
and build our own eco-houses, and outlines best practice (and the compromises involved) in eco Refurbishment.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CLICK HERE

An important starting point in designing and building your own home is a visit to self-build exhibitions which are happening in most towns.

The Self-Build -Entend & Renovate show is happening at the Galway Racecourse, Ballybrit.

There will alsobe a full programme of seminars delivered by professionals from the construction industry covering topics such as Building Energy Rating, Planning Permission and Passive Housing.

If you are thinking of building or renovating, the Seld Build shows which are held at different venues  throughout Ireland over the year.  You get the chance to talk to a number of suppliers in the one place. It’s also a good place to haggle.

If you have a sketch or a plan bring a few copies along.

For more information click … SELF BUILD – RENOVATE & EXTEND 2009

The Energy Show 2009 Organised by Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) will be held at the RDS Main Hall, Dublin

This business to business event is a must for anyone with a professional interest in or responsibility for energy use.

Registration for the Exhibition has now closed. You can register on the day. Entrance is free to the Exhibition on production of trade ID.

Now firmly established as the showcase event for Ireland’s energy sector, this year’s event follows the highly successful format of previous years. A cutting edge technology and trade exhibition with leading Irish and European product and service suppliers will showcase the very latest in energy innovation offering visitors a unique experience in seeking low energy solutions for buildings and the opportunity to engage those experts leading the energy sector both here and abroad. (more…)

House Design Online has launched a new service “Outside the Box TV”. As the page title suggests, we want to suggest ways to think outside the box when it comes to “design” and “architecture”. Many of the homes that we live in are no more than boxes, whose primary function is to contain us, supply us with bedding, water, food processing and sanitation. Of course there are many who lack even these essential elements but our homes, no matter how basic have many other roles which have been neglected in modern architecture.

Out of the Box TV features video clips of innovative green architecture and sustainable building design. The clips are from around the world.

Oustide the Box features Ireland’s first EcoVillage which is under development at Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary as well as some of the work of architects Peter Cowman, Joachim Mitchell and others who are challenging the preceptions of modern architecture.

for more click here OUTSIDE THE BOX

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The crisis in the property business has deflected attention away from, what is the real crisis in housing. That is, that our homes are damaging the environment.

The introduction of building regulations that help to reduce the level of emissions from modern homes will reduce the mpact of our future housing stock.

There is however the issue of, what to do with our existing homes. Take the case of Ireland for example. It is estimated that 930,000 houses were built before the first ever building regulations in 1991, with approximately 1,000,0000 built before the 1996 building regulations. To put that in context: 350,000 houses have no wall insulation, 200,000 houses have no roof insulation and 350,000 houses have just single-glazed windows. (Source DoEHLG, 2002).

It is time, therefore to start thinking ‘retro’ and bring our existing housing stock up to an acceptable standard that achieves higher levels of comfort in our homes and less impact on the environment.

At the “See the Light 2009 conference” in Galway, Ireland, Professor Owen Lewis, CEO of SEI, launched new guidelines for upgrading existing dwellings in Ireland to the PassivHaus Standard.

The new guidelines provide practical advice on the utilisation of construction products, materials and techniques that minimize waste, improve air quality, increase energy efficiency and protect the environment. They also include two Irish case studies in retro-fitting existing houses to the PassivHaus Standard. The document entitles “Retrofitted Passive Houses can be downloaded HERE

Two independent 1 1/2 day courses with Thomas and Ulrike Riedmuller
Dates:Sat/Sun April 25th/26th and
June 30th/31th at The Hollies
Cost per course:€100

For great outdoor fun and the real Italian taste these wood fired Bread and Pizza Ovens built with Cob are hard to beat. Learn how to build your own in just 1 1/2 days from firebricks, clay, sand, earth and straw. After this course you’ll be equipped with enough skill to go home and build your own in the garden and cook in it.

For More Information Check out THE HOLLIES

Sustainable Design with a special focus on the creation of affordable, mortgage-free dwellings

• Venue: Carraig Dulra in Glenealy, Co Wicklow

Course Date:
16 May 2009
Instructor:
Peter Cowman

The workshop will allow students to understand the process involved in creating a sustainable house design. Peter will explain the inspiration behind the development of the Econospace, his design for a low-cost, self-buildable sustainable shelter. Then he will focus on the practical aspects of its construction.
Price: €90.00

For More Information CLICK HERE

How to build a Low-Cost, Planning-free, Sustainable Space In Your Back Garden

The Ecoshop, Meridian Point, Church Road, Greystones, Co. Wicklow, Ireland

(Beside SuperValu car park, 2 minutes from DART station & buses)

Course Will be presented by Architect/Teacher/Writer
Peter Cowman B Arch. Director of The Living Architecture Centre and originator of the ‘Living Architecture’ concept

For More Information Click Here

Date: Monday 27th April, 2009

Location: Tipperary Institute, Thurles, North Tipperary

Price: Free but booking essential by Friday 17th of April

Booking:                              Tel. 01 674 5773

More Information CLICK HERE

Organised by Cultivate, Tipperary Institute, The Village, Irish Rural Link and Carnegie Trust

Supported by COMHAR, the National Sustainable Development Council, Dublin City Council, Department of Environment Heritage and Local Government, Sustainable Energy Ireland and the Carnegie Trust

Over the last couple of decades policy makers have tended to regard Irish rural communities as dependent on urban centers rather than as drivers for change. This conference brings together stakeholders from a wide variety of sectors to explore how we can work together to build resilience in a future of energy, climate and economic uncertainty.

What are the actions and positive changes we will need to make to enhance the quality of life of our communities? How will we provide livelihoods and strong rural economies? How will communities of the future provide for their food needs? What are the opportunities for sustainable transport and how will we heat and power our communities?

What do we do to engage people to address the ever more complex problems facing us today? All of this will require for us to work purposefully together to build resilience in these challenging times.

10.00 Registration

10.30 Opening

Representative from North Tipperary County Council

Conversation Starters

10.35 Towards Sustainable Rural Communities
Ciaran Lynch – Tipperary Institute

10.45 From Vulnerability to Resilience
Prof. Peader Kirby

10.55 Regional Food
Helen Lawrenson – Falkland Centre for
Stewardship, Scotland

11.05 Rural Transport
Seamus Boland – Irish Rural Link

11.15 Break

11.30 World Café (view YouTube clip about World Café)

“Given where we are at, what are you already doing to build resilience in your communities?”

12.00 World Café plenary

13.00 Lunch (not provided)

Conversation Starters

14.00 Entreprise, Livelihoods ands Jobs
Ben Whelan – Cultivate and the Village

14.10 The Power of One Community
Seamus Hoyne – Tipperary Energy Agency, Paul Allen, Centre for Alternative Technology and Zero Carbon Britain

14.30 Planning For Rural Sustainability
Bridget Kirwan and Catherine Corcoran,
Tipperary Institute

14.50 Education and Training for Local Resilience
Davie Philip, Cultivate and the Village, Michael Kenny NUIM

15.10 Break

15.20 World Café (view YouTube clip about World Café)

“How do we work together now to build resilience in our communities”

Beyond The Talking Shop

16.20 Making the Transition

Chris Chapman, Change Exploratory and Nick Wilding, Carnegie Trust

Good news from Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) that minister Eamon Ryan has announced a scheme to promote micro-generation. These scheme will enable farm and home owners to sell electricity that they generate back to the grid.   Among the measures is a guaranteed price of 19 cent per kilowatt hour of electricity produced. This competitive feed-in tariff will apply to the first 4,000 micro-generation installations countrywide over the next three years. Eligible installations include:

• Small scale wind
• photovoltaic
• hydro and
• combined heat and power

The scheme is a major initiative in reducing our dependence on imported fossil fuels.

Any who is designing their house at the moment should make provision for the installation of a micro-generator early on in the process.

It is possible with the proper design to build a house which uses less energy than it produces.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE SCHEME CLICK HERE

To see a news item on the scheme click below

RTE NEWS

The second Renewable Energy Summit will take place in, Croke Park Convention Centre, Dublin between 24-25 March 2009

THE 2020 target for renewable energy has been increased to 40 per cent as part of the government’s strategy for a “green economy”. Taoiseach Brian Cowen said recently that the government’s aim was to deliver a ‘New Green Deal’ that focused on energy efficiency and the investment in clean and renewable technologies.”

“As one of the most fossil-fuel dependent countries in the world, we must prepare for a future when the prices and volatility we have recently witnessed become the norm”he said.
Improving the environment and energy security is one of the five “action areas” in the plan to rejuvenate the economy and attain sustainable growth.

SPEAKERS INCLUDE

Dr Wolfgang Palz, Chairman, World Council For Renewable Energy (WCRE)

Folker Franz, Senior Adviser, Environmental Affairs and Energy

Katrina Polaski, Head of Renewable Energy, Sustainable Energy Ireland

Gerry Wardell, Director, Codema

Lawrence D Staudt

Dr Richard Toll, Economic & Social Research Institute

For more information, or to book a place click RENEWABLE ENERGY SUMMIT 2009

If you want to discover a bit more about Passive Houses, it might be worth visiting the Ecobuild & Futurebuild Conference whis is taking place in Earl’s Court, London from Tuesday 3rd to Thursday 5th of March 2009.

For more information, please click here

On the first day of Ecobuild (Tuesday 3 March) BRE will be holding a free PassivHaus seminar in the Thames Lounge.

MORNING SESSION: Creating a PassivHaus culture
Chair Gavin Hodgson, PassivHaus UK, Managed by BRE

10:30 Making a case for PassivHaus: lessons for a crisis – Chris Herring, Director, Green Building Store/Chair, AECB
11:00 PassivHaus in the UK – where are we now? – Oliver Child, Senior Consultant, BRE
11:30 Case study: new materials in PassivHaus design – Howard Liddell, Principal, Gaia Architects
12:00 PassivHaus construction and the skills gap – Malcolm Bell, Professor of Surveying & Sustainable Housing, Leeds Metropolitan University
12:30 Close

AFTERNOON SESSION: There’s no haus like PassivHaus
Chair Justin Bere, Bere:Architects

12:45 Case study: the UK’s first completed PassivHaus – Justin Bere, Bere:Architects
13:15 Case study: PassivHaus is for everyone! – Andrew Bissell, Chair, Blue Property
13:45 PassivHaus retrofit – Mark Siddall, Senior Architect, Dewjo’c Architects Ltd
14:15 Learning from the Swedish experience – Henrietta Lynch, Associate, The Good Homes Alliance

The seminar is free to attend and as there is no pre-booking available for the seminar, attendance is on a first-come-first-served basis. The seminar will be held in the Thames Lounge.

For information on the Passive House Seminar click here

The reality at the moment is that the building of new houses has temporarily in any case ground to a halt.  This has of course, implications for the economy but on the other hand offers us with new opportunities.

There has been no better time to focus on bringing our existing housing stock up to a proper standard.

Newer houses are now being built to higher standards of insulation and energy efficiency but if you built or bought prior to 2002, it is likely that your house is less energy efficient and therfore more expensive to run.

On February 8th last Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan and Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government John Gormley today launched the national insulation programme for economic recovery. The three-strand insulation programme will cut heating bills for householders, reduce carbon emissions and create thousands of jobs both directly and indirectly over the course of 2009.

TO VIEW PRESS RELEASE, CLICK HERE

The scheme is being administered by Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) and to register your interest you must simple call 1850 927 000 or email hes@sei.ie.

Measure covered by the scheme include roof insulation, cavity wall insulation, Internal Wall Dry-lining, External Wall Insulation, High Efficiency Gas or Oil fired Boiler with Heating Controls Upgrade, Heating Controls Upgrade and a Before works and an After works assessment.

FOR FURTHER DETAILS,  CLICK HERE

The Sustainability Institute based in Westport, Co. Mayo in the West of Ireland is running a number of both short and long courses during 2009, which are worth checking out for anyone planning to build or renovate in a sustainable manner during 2009 or beyond.

One and Two Day Courses Offered in 2009 include:

• Introduction to Low Cost Design and Construction
• DIY Insulation and Draughtproofing
• Basic Domestic Energy Auditing
• Renovation of Stone Cottages
• DIY Solar Thermal
• DIY Off Grid Electrical Systems (Wind and Solar PV)
• Construction Courses and Workshops
• Monglian Ger and Yurt Construction (new)

Longer Courses and Modules:

12 Month Practical Sustainability Course

• Practical Low-Cost Design and Build Module 1
• Practical Low-Cost Design and Build Module 2

Click here for more information

An interesting article in today’s Irish Independent by John Kennedy suggests “it’s time for forward thinkers to embrace Ireland’s future economic edge: green energy.

The smartest minds in silicon valley have their eyes and wallets on a bigger prize…electricity!

Tech firms from google to IBM realise that smart energy usage, from homes to cars that can manage their own use of electricity and fuel, and even sell surplus electricity back to the power companies.

Read the article: How 2.0 is set to be bigger than Web 2.0Electricity

To put all of this into context. If we go back two decades and look at where information technololy was at and how it has become an intricite part of everyone’s live’s. Mobile phones were literally unheard of in 1987, yet within a decade they were became an essential accessory for everyone from schoolkids to older folks.

Let’s now try to look forward a decade from now to 2018. Ireland has set a target of 40% renewable energy usage by 2020. Ireland in fairness, being one of the first countries in the world to do so. The technology is already developed to capture, at least this amount of energy from renewables, freely available in Ireland such as wind and wave power. In the 1980′s the technology to develop mobile phones and personal computers was similarily developed. It only took a few short years for that technology to be fully adapted for home users. It is very likely that renewable energy technology will become a domestic feature of every home within the next decade.

All of this is of immense importance for those of you who are thinking about designing your own homes now. Try to design your home with 2018 and even 2028 and beyond. Most of us will still be paying our mortgages well beyond that.  Houses that maximise solar gain and are very well insulated now, will increase the possibility of that home being independent of its energy needs in a very short time.

The Cultivate Centre in Dublin have announced their courses in Green Building for 2009, which will be of interest to anyone designing or planning their own sustainable building for 2009.

The courses cover topics such as basic domestic energy auditing, wind energy, micro hydro and solar PV, solar water heating, green building and many others. Of particular interest is a course entitled “Want to build a house for €20,000 or even less” on Sunday 22nd February 2009. This day course is been given by Andy Wilson of the Sustainability Institute.

For full details on these and other courses please check out Cultivate

The Irish Government announced today that 10% of the Irish Transport will be run by electric power by 2020, that’s about 250,000 vehicles. The government plan will involve tax incentives for businesses, a €1million project by Sustainable Energy Ireland to research, develop and demonstrate of vehicles nationally,Assistance for individuals purchasing electric vehicles and the Establishment of a National Task Force which will examine infrastructure options for national roll-out of electric vehicles, including street charging.

The minister Eamon Ryan, unfortunately does not include electric bicycles, also known as pedelecs in the measure.

Overall, the decision is to be welcomed. The issue of transport is very much related to how and where, we live.

Unfortunately many people have chosen to move to the countryside in Ireland to live ‘urban lives’, not interacting with the local population or using services and rely consequently on the overuse of transport.

If you are thinking, as many are, or moving to the countryside, consider using whatever local services are there such as shops, schools etc. If you work in the city or town, make provision in your design for the future possibility of being able to work, at least some of the time, from home.

When designing your home, consider the installation of a domestic wind turbine with the possibility of supplying your own transport energy. Imagine, not having to go to the petrol station once or twice a week. You could even start a tradition of homemade “Jumbo Breakfast Roll”, while your car is refuelling in the driveway!