€20m for new Green housing schemes Details of seven low carbon housing schemes were announced by Minister for the Environment John Gormley under a €20m "towards zero carbon homes" programme. Mr Gormley made the announcement as he turned the sod on the multi-million euro Emerald Project in Ballymun, which is to be one of the most energy efficient housing projects ever built in Ireland.

£100m eco-plan for former NI quarry

A derelict quarry is to be transformed into an environmentally friendly harbour eco-village under a £100 million development plan that have been approved. Northern Irish Environment Minister Sammy Wilson has given the green light to the ambitious planning application for the 153-acre site of a former cement works on the shore of Larne Lough, 22 miles north of Belfast.

'Off-the-shelf sustainability' The days when an environmental building consisted of the addition of some cedar wood cladding and a few photovoltaic cells are over, writes the head of BRE Ireland Eanna Nolan

What has gone wrong? Ireland has seen massive growth in the availability of renewable energy systems, yet penetration of renewable energy systems is stubbornly slow. What has gone wrong, asks Brian Bowe