House designs
NEW ACADEMY TEACHES 'PASSIVE' SKILLS
The Academy offers you the chance to learn about cutting edge design. INSET: Tomás O'Leary.
Wednesday February 17 2010
THE LAUNCH of a new academy in Wicklow specialising in passive house design should put an end to designers and contractors having to look outside of Ireland to learn further about cutting edge sustainable design.
Tomás O'Leary, of Mosart, the Wicklow-based Irish Passive House Academy, is now providing training and the pertinent internationally accredited qualification of certified European passive house designer. He has been accredited by the creators of the passive house standard, Darmstadt's Passivhaus Institut, to provide the training from the academy's location at the Wicklow County Campus in Rathnew.
'We specialise in providing high quality training in all aspects of passive housing, combining both theory and practice,' says Mr. O'Leary, who has also been accredited by the Passivhaus Institut to certify passive housing projects.
He will work alongside co-director Art McCormack in drafting the suite of three SEI national guidelines on passive house design. Having already designed, built and lived in Ireland's first Certified passive house since 2004, Mr. O'Leary has plenty of first-hand experience of the requirements needed.
The academy's training facilities include a passive house building lab showcasing the latest technologies and products relevant to the design of passive houses.
The academy offers a 10 day course for certified passive house designers, the first of which starts on March 8. Also on offer are one and two day courses covering key principles and an introduction to the design of passive houses.
For more information on the Irish Passive House Academy visit http://passivehouseacademy.com/
- Myles BUCHANAN
