The Green Room is back and this year we’ll be covering some important topics related to commercial sustainability trends.
What is the Green Room 2018? It is an Irish Green Building Council (IGBC) Conference providing details on the latest trends nationally and internationally on sustainable non-residential buildings. This half-day conference will bring you the latest updates on commercial building sustainability trends, including briefings on Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) for the commercial sector.
The conference will be split up into two sessions and this series of articles will provide details on each session. You can check out the article covering Session 1 – Corporate Responsibility, Climate Change and the Built Environment here. While this article will discuss session 2 of the Green Room, relating to NZEB.
Tell me more about session 2 – NZEB – Ready, Steady, Go! In 2010 in Ireland, 12.6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent was generated by the building sector.1 Buildings have a major role in the abatement of emissions in Ireland. In order for Ireland to meet its climate targets new measures need to be implemented to reduce the impact of both new and existing buildings going forward.
The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), is hoping to help decarbonise our buildings by requiring all new buildings to be Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) by 31st December 2020 and all buildings acquired by public bodies by 31st December 2018. This means that any buildings completed after these dates will need to achieve the NZEB standard irrespective of when they were initiated.
As it is up to each European Member State to define how the NZEB standard is applied nationally, the Department of Housing released an updated Technical Guidance Document L – Conservation of Fuel and Energy – Buildings other than Dwellings in late 2017. From 1st of January 2019, ALL non-residential buildings need to comply with the new Part L.
For more information on NZEB see our FAQ page.
What does this mean for new commercial buildings? In order to meet this NZEB standard the revised building regulations will require new buildings to use up to 60% less energy than currently allowed under regulations. There is also a requirement that up to 20% of the final demand of the building should be catered for by renewables.
To achieve the new NZEB standard commercial buildings will need to adopt a combination of new measures which could include; improved building insulation, solar shading, reviewed airtightness standards, glazing with improved insulation value and many more. To meet NZEB standards will require creativity and innovation throughout all stages of the design and construction phases on these new commercial buildings.
So who will be speaking on NZEB? Session 2 will address what are the key steps that will help you achieve a NZEB building. We look at steps through case studies of recently completed or designed developments. The session will be chaired by Orla Coyle from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), who recently joined SEAI as Programme Manager for NZEB and High Performance Retrofit. The speakers on the panel joining Orla will include:
- Andy Lundberg from Passivate who will discuss fabric efficiency and eliminating thermal bridging, which are important first steps towards achieving NZEB.
- David Walshe from IN2 Engineering Design Partnership who will discuss dynamic modelling of ventilation and comfort for an NZEB building.
- John Walsh from ESB Smart Energy Services who will discuss low energy cooling strategy for a recently completed LEED platinum building, ESB International’s Offices, 1 Dublin Airport Central.
- Donal O’Connor from OCSC who will discuss designing effective renewables, the final part of NZEB compliance.
Overall the panel discussion will be based around effective strategies for achieving NZEB. You can see more details on our speakers and the event here.
Who will attend? To learn more about our exhibitors and to see a list of attendees check out the event listing here.
Interested in learning more about the Conference?
Leadership for a Sustainable Built Environment
The Irish Green Building Council – IGBC, a non-profit organisation was launched in 2011 with organisations and businesses from the entire value chain of the built environment. The IGBC aim to transform the Irish industry to sustainable practices through policy creation, education, events and provision of tools to measure and accelerate progress.
- NESC Secretariat (2012) Towards a New National Climate Policy. Available at: http://www.nesc.ie/en/publications/publications/nesc-secretariat-papers/nesc-secretariat-paper-03-2012-towards-a-new-national-climate-policy/
