Isabel Barros Architects - Blog

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Architects Provide Advice at the National Ploughing Championships

The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland will participate for the first time with a free Advice Centre at the 2012 National Ploughing Championships.

From Tuesday 25th to Thursday 27th September, the RIAI will run an Advice Centre at the show where the public can meet a registered architect for a 20-30 min. consultation, completely for free.

What can I discuss with an Architect at the Ploughing Championships?

A Registered RIAI Architect can provide professional advice on a wide range of issues relating to your home and your project including:

  • Improving energy efficiency and reducing your utility bills
  • Building a new home or extending your current home
  • Planning applications and planning issues
  • LEADER funding
  • Registration of septic tanks
  • Sustainable development and reuse of vacant buildings
  • Rep 4 Traditional farm building grants
  • Conservation issues – an RIAI Conservation Architect will discuss appropriate methods and materials

Isabel Barros, B.Arch. (Hons.) MRIAI will be providing advice on the 26th September from 3pm to 6pm.

To book your time with Isabel or any other architect, please visit Stand No. 726 – Row V – Block 1, within the ‘Avondale Arcade’.

To help the architect give you the best advice, please bring with you (if possible) some photos, a brief description of what you want to do, and some measurements to give an idea of how much space there is to work with.

For more information visit the RIAI website.

Isabel’s Picks for September 2012

PRETTY PLEASURE

Blending uniqueness with elegance

Nud collection classic, emotile, ceracasa, digital print tiles, tiles.ie, schuco aluminium sliding door, Karlsson Spider Clock, urban outfitters

 

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1. BESPOKE TILES

Manufacturer: Ceracasa

Product Name: Emotile

Price Range: n/a

Material: Porcelain tiles decorated using an ink-jet process (CMYK).

Key Facts: Provide the chance to create an exclusive and personalised design which can be then featured on walls,floors, facades, both interior and exterior. There is no minimum quantity requirement- Emotile can be ordered in quantities from 1 square metre.

Applications: Floor, walls, interiors and exteriors.

Available in Ireland from: Tiles.ie

 

2. LIGHT PENDANT WITH COLOURED CORD

Trademark: NUD Collection

Product Name: Classic

Price Range: from €58

Key Facts: 44 textile colors available.

Available to Ireland from: NUDstore

 

3. WALL CLOCK

Trademark: Karlsson

Product Name: Karlsson Spider Clock

Price Range: €66

Material: Mixed metals & plastic.

Available to Ireland from: Urban Outfitters

 

4. ALUMINIUM SLIDING SYSTEM

Manufacturer: Schuco

Product Name: ASS 77 PD.SI

Price Range: n/a

Key Features: Makes large-scale sliding systems with maximum transparency possible. Slender profile face widths and outstanding thermal insulation with a Uw and value <0.8 W/m²K. Outer frame concealed in the attachment to the building structure. Fast, silent and convenient opening and closing at the touch of a button using an external control panel.

Available in Ireland from: Senator Windows  – Aluminium Division

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See More Picks

Visit to First Green Building Supermarket in Europe

The Billa Supermarket in Klosterneuburg, Austria is the first supermarket in Europe to be awarded EU Green Building Certificate.

This visit was part of the Renewable Energy Research Trip to Austria that took place in November 2011.

GreenBuilding is a voluntary programme which was initiated by the European Commission in 2005. The programme intends to raise awareness and trigger additional investments in energy efficiency and renewable energies among owners of non-residential buildings and to give advice and public recognition to those, who are ready to implement ambitious measures in their buildings, resulting in substantial energy savings. These savings not only contribute to the European fight against climate change, but make also good business sense as it will reduce energy costs.

billa klosterneuburg supermarket austria

Energy Concept

1. Use of low energy refrigeration

• Generous evaporator surfaces

• Specially designed air duct

• Use of energy-saving air circulation fans – consumption per fan: 7-9 W

• Electronic regulation of the panel heaters

billa klosterneuburg supermarket austria

 

2. Refrigeration systems, condensers and heating systems

• Complete heat recovery from refrigerators is used to heat the supermarket

• Additional heat energy during the cold season can be extracted by the partial use of the refrigeration system as a heat pump

• Special electronic control of the refrigeration systems, reacting to the surrounding temperatures

• Use of special electronic system for cooling and heating system

3. Use of energy saving plant

• Short payback periods (4.5 years)

• Reduction of operational and connection costs

• Constant control of the cooling temperatures

• Extended service life of the compressor by minimizing the frequency of switching

• No building work for heating systems required

billa klosterneuburg supermarket austria billa klosterneuburg supermarket austria

 

Fact sheet

Sales area: 600 m²

Storage and ancillary area: 200 m²

Year of construction: 2007

Wall construction: Reinforced concrete 20 cm + Rock wool 16 cm + OSB 2.6 cm

U-value External walls: 0,23 W/m²K

U-value Windows: Glass 1,1 W/m²K, Incl. profile: 1.8 W / m² K, Total construction: u = 1.31 W / m² K

Roof construction: 1.8 mm SARNAFIL roof membrane, EPS 20 cm, PAE film LD 920 trapezoidal sheet

U-value Roof: 0,18 W/m²K

 

 

Who can participate in GreenBuilding?

• Owners of non-residential buildings; they can become GreenBuilding Partner.

• Businesses from the building sector, contributing to energy efficiency in the non-residential building sector with their products or services; they can become GreenBuilding Endorser.

 

How to become GreenBuilding Partner

For becoming GreenBuilding Partner, you need to implement energy efficiency measures in your building(s):

• Refurbishment of existing non-residential building(s): primary energy consumption reduced by at least 25% (if economically viable), total or related to the end-use or subsystem, which is being modernised.

• New non-residential building(s): primary energy consumption 25% below building standard (if economically viable) or below the consumption of “conventional” buildings presently constructed.

• Building(s) already renovated or refurbished (after 01.01.2000): primary energy consumption reduced by at least 25% or the building(s) consume 25% less energy than required by the national building standard in force at that time.

 

There are three steps in becoming a GreenBuilding Partner:

1. Performing an Energy Audit

2. Development and submission of an Action-Plan based on the audit, describing the measures to be performed

3. Reporting about the success of the Action-Plan implementation

 

Visit the The European GreenBuilding Programme Website for more information.

 

Isabel Barros

 

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