Build Green Now 2025 – Towards a Circular & Resource Efficient Construction Sector

About the Conference

Join us at Build Green Now 2025, the Irish Green Building Council’s conference on sustainable construction attended by industry leaders, policymakers, and innovators to explore the next steps toward a circular and resource-efficient built environment.

Building a Circular Ireland: A Roadmap for a Resource-Efficient Built Environment

At the conference, we will officially launch “Building a Circular Ireland”, a roadmap designed to accelerate reuse, bio-based materials, and innovative circular strategies in Ireland’s construction sector.

Key Topics of Build Green Now 2025:

• Circularity & Resource Efficiency: How Ireland can build an innovative ecosystem, a reuse sector, and a bio-based materials sector, maintaining the value of materials and supporting the long-term implementation of the EPBD.
• EPBD & Policy Updates:  Latest developments in the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and fast-changing policy landscape
• Better using existing buildings: How we can optimize our building stock.

Why Attend Build Green 2025 Conference?

✔ Gain Expert Insights – Learn from top international and Irish speakers on circular construction, sustainable materials, and regulatory shifts
✔ Network with Industry Leaders – Engage with policymakers, sustainability pioneers, and business leaders
✔ Discover Innovative Solutions – Explore new business opportunities, best practices, and case studies to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving industry.

Agenda

Download the Programme

For access to presentations- Please email Jubey 

Our Speakers

In Attendance:

James Browne TD, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage

We are pleased to welcome Minister James Browne TD to Build Green Now 2025. The Minister will engage directly with stakeholders and share key insights on the government’s commitment to delivering the homes Ireland needs—while accelerating the transition to a low-carbon, circular built environment.

His presence underscores the growing urgency and policy focus on aligning housing delivery with Ireland’s climate goals.

James Browne is a Fianna Fáil TD representing the Wexford constituency and currently serves as the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. A member of the Dáil since 2016, Minister Browne has held multiple roles in the Department of Justice prior to his current portfolio. As a key voice in shaping national housing and sustainability policy, he brings critical insight into Ireland’s pathway toward more resilient, inclusive, and environmentally responsible communities. Minister Browne will open Build Green Now 2025, setting the stage for vital conversations on circularity, climate action, and the future of the built environment.

Michael Healy-Rae is an Independent TD for the Kerry constituency and currently serves as Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. With over a decade of parliamentary experience, he is known for his strong advocacy on rural affairs, community sustainability, and practical environmental policy. As a longstanding public representative, Minister Healy-Rae brings a grounded perspective on the intersection of agriculture, rural development, and climate resilience. He will close Build Green Now 2025 by reflecting on the day’s insights and highlighting opportunities to align national priorities with sustainable and circular practices in the built environment.

Dr. Alison Gilliland has a background in education, trade unionism, equality, local and European politics. A former Lord Mayor of Dublin, Chairperson of the Dublin City Council’s Strategic Policy Committee on Housing and member of the European Committee of the Regions, Alison is passionate about housing and sustainable cities. She currently combines researching the adaption of obsolete commercial buildings for residential use as part of her Masters in Climate Change: Policy, Media and Society with Dublin City University with leading two small organisations in the construction sector – the Construction Workers Health Trust and Construction Workers Benevolent Fund. Alison is also a member of the Vacant to Vibrant Building Alliance advocating for the reversal of dereliction in our urban areas through the scaling up of adaptive reuse of vacant buildings.

Dr. Carolina Montano Owen is the Technical Lead for Sustainable Buildings at World Green Building Council (WorldGBC). Carolina promotes strategies to accelerate the transition to a circular and decarbonised built environment, by leading initiatives such as the Circular Buildings Coalition and the WorldGBC Circularity Accelerator global programme. She has supported the development of the technical screening criteria for the EU’s Green Taxonomy as a member of the WorldGBC team for the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance, as well as the decarbonisation roadmaps part of the #BuildingLife project. She has a background in Civil Engineering and a Doctorate from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany. During her studies she received awards from institutions such as the Energy Institute of the United Kingdom, CIBSE and ASHRAE, and was a representative at the Global Young Scientists Summit in Singapore in 2018.

Carolina Koronen is a Senior Researcher at Buildings Performance Institute Europe (BPIE) – a not-for-profit think tank and independent centre of expertise on the decarbonisation of buildings. One of her main work areas concerns the development of policies and strategies for reducing the whole-life carbon emissions of the European building stock. She holds a MSc of Environmental Engineering from Lund University.

Helen Shaw, Climate Solutions Storyteller runs Athena Media, a digital storytelling agency. She is artist-in-residence 2025 at Data Stories, Maynooth University, a project researching data relating to housing, property and planning in Dublin and with Data Stories she is working on a case study with Dublin City Council. She is curator of Tóchar Community Stories, a two year public engagement project working with people in the wetlands of the Midlands under the Just Transition Programme. Helen has worked as a journalist, broadcaster, podcaster and documentary-maker. She holds a BA, MA, postgraduate degree Journalism and an MSc in Climate Change. She is a Climate Reality Leader 2024 and recently completed TCD’s Climate Leadership Development programme.

Johanna Wiedermann is a Policy officer at The Housing Agency working on a range of policy areas. Recently this has included projects about vacancy and dereliction and community-led housing. Her background is in social research, specialising in qualitative and ethnographic research methods across a variety of sectors including housing, planning, health and media. Her academic background is in economics, international relations and spatial planning.

John Casey is the Founder and Managing Director of CORA Consulting Engineers, John has over 30 years’ experience developing innovative and creative structural engineering solutions for clients across all market sectors. His approach is to work closely with Architects, Clients and Industry Partners to seek continuous improvement in designs that add real value at the earliest stage of any project. He has spearheaded CORA’s many award winning projects and built an organisation that works at the highest level of engineering excellence and in recent years, is particularly interested in Low Embodied Carbon design of Buildings. He was appointed as an Irish Green Building Council Building Life Ambassador in 2024 for his work with the IGBC.

Kirsten Haggart is a Director at Waugh Thistleton Architects, the world’s leading architects in the field of mass timber who were shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize in 2018 and won the Architects’ Journal Practice of the Year award for 2023. With over 20 years of design experience working across sectors, Kirsten has developed projects and concepts that push boundaries and change mindsets. From the pioneering Murray Grove, which altered the global perception of how CLT should be used, to developing the visionary concept of Trenezia a zero-carbon community of 1,600 homes and a cultural hub built over the lake in Bergen, Norway. Kirsten leads the research team at WTA investigating a range of subjects from reuse and recycling of timber to the health benefits of biobased materials.

Kai Liebetanz is a sustainability professional with expertise in nature, resilience, and circular economy. At UK Green Building Council, Kai is fostering systems-level change through cross-sector collaboration. He is championing a regenerative, nature-positive built environment by addressing the industry’s biodiversity impacts. He is working with industry professionals in order to minimise resource use by supporting the built environment to shift from our current linear economy to a circular economy. In addition to this, Kai’s work promotes urban nature-based solutions and their multiple benefits.

Karolina Bäckman Faulkner is a Circular Design Specialist with 3XN GXN, supporting clients with strategic visioning and delivery of low carbon design and circularity.
Based in Copenhagen, she works on projects globally with a current main focus on the UK. She has extensive knowledge in whole life carbon reduction strategies and calculation, building transformation, material reuse, design for disassembly, and design for adaptability. Recently she has also been part of completing a four-year long EU-research project; CIRCuIT on scaling circularity as part of a low carbon future in Copenhagen, London, Hamburg and Helsinki.

Ossian Smyth is a former Green Party TD for Dún Laoghaire and served as Minister of State with responsibility for Public Procurement, eGovernment, Communications, and the Circular Economy. During his time in office, he played a key role in advancing Ireland’s Green Public Procurement Strategy and the circular economy agenda. He previously served as Cathaoirleach of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and holds a degree in Computer Science from Trinity College Dublin.

Paul Johnston is a Civil Engineer with over 30 years’ experience in the Building, Civil Engineering and Local Authority Sectors. Having graduated from the Regional Technical College, Dundalk and Queen’s University, Belfast, Paul became a Chartered Engineer in 1996. Paul’s career has included heavy civil engineering projects, building and refurbishment projects throughout Ireland and the UK. From 2015 to 2023, Paul was the Senior Engineer in the Housing Section of Waterford City & County Council, responsible for delivery of the Housing Supply, Maintenance, and Improvement Programmes. During this time, Waterford City & County Council pioneered the Repair and Lease Scheme for returning vacant dwellings back to use and led nationally on returning vacant and derelict buildings back to productive use. Paul was a member of the Working Group on the Reuse of Existing Buildings set up by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government that developed the Bringing Back Homes Manual for the Reuse of Existing Buildings and also provided input to the Opportunities and Challenges of Vacant Above-the-Shop Units (VATSUs) for Residential Use in Ireland Report (March 2024 Dr. K Stokes and M. Connolly).

Philip Comerford studied architecture in University College Dublin and holds a master’s degree in Urban Studies from University College London. He has worked as an architect in Ireland and Europe, including for Grafton Architects and Derek Tynan Architects in Dublin. He currently runs his own architecture studio as Philip Comerford Architect, specialising in bespoke residential developments and planning consultancy. Since 2017 he has taught architecture in University College Dublin (UCD), currently leading a unit in housing design for final year students. He is currently undertaking doctoral research on sustainable housing in UCD, as part of a funded research project to promote low-carbon compact urban growth in Ireland.

Sponsored By

Saint-Gobain provides solutions that make buildings more efficient in terms of their energy consumption, and which help contribute to saving the planet. Most of its solutions (especially those using glass, mineral wool insulation, plasterboards, and facade and floor covering mortars) are already helping and will help even more in the future to improve the energy efficiency of buildings.

Exhibitors

	Acutrace helps Business Owners understand where and when Energy is used in their Buildings 24/7.  This Energy Data allows Businesses to identify avoidable wasted energy and take corrective action. Acutrace are Ireland’s leading providers of Energy Measurement Solutions, measuring data in buildings throughout Ireland, UK, Germany and France.
	The Digital Academy for the Sustainable Built Environment (DASBE) is a digital hub for upskilling, capacity building and education in the areas of circular economy, energy efficiency and digitalisation for the construction sector
	Ecological Building Systems, based in Athboy, Co. Meath, ethos is to achieve ‘Better Building’ by adopting a ‘Fabric First’ approach to building design. By prioritising natural, resource-efficient materials with lower embodied carbon, they aim to optimise building performance, durability, and sustainability.
	Goodbody Clearstream is Ireland’s leading corporate Climate, ESG and Sustainability services solution provider with a blue-chip client base and deep practical domain Knowledge & Expertise. They assist organisations to design, measure, implement and report best-in-class sustainable practice in their businesses, products and supply chains with a practical hands-on approach
	Hydro Building Systems offers an extensive range of high-quality and sustainable aluminium windows, doors and curtain walls under the brand names SAPA and WICONA.  They provide architects, project developers and contractors with tailor-made technological solutions, enabling them to optimally design and realize their concepts
	Soprema Ireland a part of Soprema Group, specializes in sustainable waterproofing and insulation solutions for the built environment. Committed to circular construction, they offer recyclable insulation, durable roofing, and green solutions. Proud IGBC member, they support a more sustainable Irish construction sector.
	Unilin Insulation, formerly Xtratherm, is a leading Irish insulation manufacturer with 30+ years of supporting the construction industry. Committed to NZEB and Passive standards, they provide resources to bridge the gap between design and build for better performance.

• If you want to know more about exhibiting and sponsorship opportunities, see the Sponsorship document.
• If you would like to book by invoice, please contact Cliodhna. 
• If you are a member and would like to book, please make sure that you are logged into your member profile. If you have not set up your member profile and do not have your member sponsorship code, please email [email protected].
• Any queries about the event? Please email [email protected]