House Design Online

Scientists have come up with an alternative process to the manufacture of dry wall boards that reduces the level of carbon used by 80%.

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