Paul McAlister Architects » Paul McAlister Architects – Creative Design Architects, Passive House Designer, Sustainable Design, Bespoke Houses, House Extensions, Housing Developments

Sustainable Future Created For Giant’s Causeway Visitor Centre

admin — Thu, 10 May 2012 10:20:31 +0000

Formed 5O to 60 million years ago, the Giant’s Causeway is a promontory of basalt columns along four miles of the northern coast of the Antrim plateau between Causeway Head and Benbane Head, jutting out of the cliff faces as if they were steps creeping into the sea.

The Giant’s Causeway and its coastal environs [...]

With our gas reserves we should be laughing

admin — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 07:51:41 +0000

Dominic Lawson Published Sunday Times: 1 April 2012

The gap between comfort and chaos in modern civilisation is alarmingly narrow and defined by a four-letter word: fuel.

If we needed a reminder, thepanic buying of petrol in preparation for a possible tanker drivers’ strike provided it.

Those with longer-term concerns about the survival of the [...]

Replacing your old boiler, is it worth it ?

admin — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 15:16:21 +0000

With energy prices remaining high, it’s now more important than ever to think about the efficiency of your central heating boiler to ensure you’re not paying more than you have to on your energy bills.

The heat is on: If your boiler is more than 20 years old you could save money by [...]

Action Renewables Awards at Titanic Belfast

admin — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:38:32 +0000

The Action Renewables Association annual awards were held on Tuesday 20th March at Titanic Belfast. The event which was held in association with Tughans and Travelwise NI, was a great success and recognised ten local companies for their innovation in renewable energy technologies, thought-leading sustainability and awareness raising initiatives. The full list of winners is as follows:

[...]

Passive Attack

admin — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:09:45 +0000

All was not well when work began on this impressive Co Cork home and its architect had to pull out the stops to make the eco-home fit the brief

A problem with the design of a passive house in Co Cork made its designer, John Morehead, go hot and cold. A fault [...]

Insulation: Natural Vs. Manufactured

admin — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:18:37 +0000

Insulation is a fundamental component of any energy efficient and sustainable building. Most now agree that the ‘energy saving potential’ of insulation, measured over the lifetime of a building, should be the dominant factor in its specification. In fact, the lifetime differences between various insulation products are small. The most important factor of all is [...]

SelfBuild – Extend & Renovate Show 2012

admin — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:59:57 +0000

Paul McAlister Architects will be exhibiting at this years SelfBuild – Extend & Renovate Show, King’s Hall, Belfast

17, 18, & 19 February, 2011

The SelfBuild Show will feature new products and technologies to enable and promote sustainable building practices throughout Ireland. With the price of home heating oil doubling within a year and utility bills [...]

What fuel is Greener ?

admin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:42:03 +0000

Different forms of energy have different costs per unit (1 kWh) of energy. Table 1 shows the typical cost to a domestic consumer of different forms of energy and also the cost relative to gas. Actual prices will vary depending on market fluctuations, supplier and quantities purchased. From this simple analysis it can be seen [...]

Understanding energy use: A ‘green’ perspective

admin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:52:20 +0000

Each type of building will have a different pattern of energy consumption throughout each day and throughout the year. Predicting the energy used by a building is complicated because of the wide range of factors that affect its energy consumption. These include:

Building type: Buildings enclose a wide range of human activity. For example, [...]

Future Homes 2010 – Australia

admin — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:26:07 +0000

Australian student, Claire Burgess, called into the office to share her recently completed low energy design with us. The year 13 student is visiting Northern Ireland for two months to study which she organised herself and decided to spend a day work experience here at Paul McAlister Architects. Being the first Passive House designer in [...]