A Cork-based manufacturer of passive window sills has recently completed the fabrication of all decorative mouldings for a new 70 bed extension at the prestigious K Club resort in Straffan, Co Kildare.

The Passivhaus Trust is calling for entries to the second UK Passivhaus Awards – the only dedicated awards for passive house in the UK, with a focus on as-built performance. The deadline for applications is 15 May 2013.

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.

The passive house standard may be growing in popularity, but the UK could struggle to follow Germany’s lead and build large numbers of passive homes because of its different social, political and financial drivers and general attitudes, according to a report published by the NHBC Foundation.

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.

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 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.