After a great deal of deliberation on the part of the panel of assessors, the winners of this year’s Towards NetZero Ireland Awards have been announced. The judges’ task proved exceptionally challenging this year because of the increase in the number of submissions, and the high quality of the projects.
It is obvious that architects, consulting engineers – and their clients – have bought into the net zero objective at both the commercial and residential levels and this augers well for Ireland’s overall net zero target.
NetZero Winners and Sponsors 2023
This category recognises projects that provide high-quality workplace environments while pursuing Net-Zero strategies that ensure a reduction in energy use and carbon emissions, thereby impacting the effects of our everyday work practices.
Award
1 Cumberland Place, Dublin 2
Meehan Green and Hibernia REG
High-commend
Cherrywood Sustainable Meeting Pods
MOLA Architects
High-commend
Hotel, Gloucester Street South, Dublin 2
DTA Architects + Vision Contracting
Category Sponsor
This category recognises multi-unit residential projects that aim to reimagine the sustainable credentials of the typical Irish suburban housing estate – a type of development often associated with promoting carbon-intensive lifestyles but which also holds a significant capacity for change and innovation.
Award
Bungalow retrofit
SustainABLE
High-commend
Passive House on the Marina, Cork
Wain Morehead Architects
High-commend
Millfield PassivHaus, Cork City
The Passivhaus Architecture Company
Category Sponsor
This category recognises projects commissioned by public or semi-public bodies and agencies that demonstrate a civic function and are accessible to all. Such buildings should illustrate an overlapping interest in the provision of public-facing functions alongside ambitious sustainability objectives.
Award
Erne Campus, South West College, Enniskillen
Mullarkey Pedersen Architects
High-commend
Strength & Conditioning Squad Gym, UCC
O’Connell Mahon Architects
Category Sponsor
This category recognises projects which bring under-utilised existing building stock back into contemporary use, achieving a more sustainable built environment through the re-use of extant properties and significantly improving their energy performance.
Award
The Rubrics Building, Trinity College
Pascall + Watson
Commend
Beaufort Housing Development Dun Laoghaire
SSE Airtricity Energy Services + Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council
High-commend
Central Plaza (formerly Central Bank building)
Henry J Lyons
Category Sponsor
This category recognises the design team that pushes the principles of sustainable design throughout their work, whether in pursuing new research, exploring contemporary innovations, or leading in best practice.
Award
DTA Architects
High-commend
Henry J Lyons
Category Sponsor
This category recognises an individual member of a design or contracting team who has demonstrated exceptional commitment and understanding in the application of Net-Zero strategies, either with regard to a particular project or across their work as a whole.
NetZero Champion
Paula Kirk,
Director and Global Leader Climate & Sustainability
Arup
Category Sponsor
Paul Martin is Programme Manager for Technical Standards Development, SEAI and a former Chairman of CIBSE Ireland. A graduate of Northumbria University, Newcastle and Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT), Paul is a Chartered Member and Fellow of CIBSE and is also the Chair of the Building Services Committee for the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSA).
Michael Curran is CIBSE Ireland Chairman and Head of Building Services, Energy and Utilities at NUI Galway. As Energy Performance Officer at NUI Galway, Michael led the team to ambitiously exceed Government targets in primary energy reduction, also wining the SEAI Energy Team of the year 2019. He also works closely with the U9 Group of Energy Officers across the university sector.
Mona Duff has a degree in building services and energy technology and worked in Arup’s Berlin and Dublin offices before being appointed Senior Manager at International WELL Building Institute (IWBI). She has extensive experience across the full spectrum of building services engineering and today is very much involved in influencing design decisions for the wellbeing of building occupants.
Tomás O’Leary is Managing Director of MosArt, a design firm delivering sustainable buildings for 30 years. Tomás has spent the last two decades delivering exemplary Passive House projects across the world and is a leading educator on high-performance buildings for both designers and contractors. He was the proud recipient of the 2022 National Net Zero Champion Award.
