Charlie McCreevy has launched Irish Concrete Federation Guidelines on Fire Protection & Safety and Energy Efficient Buildings

The European Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services, Mr McCreevy launched two major technical guideline documents for the Irish Concrete Federation (ICF) in the EC Representation Office in Ireland. The documents, 'Concrete for Energy Efficient Building - the benefits of thermal mass' and 'Comprehensive Fire Protection and Safety with Concrete' are aimed at professionals engaged in the design, construction and use of buildings including specifiers, regulators, public authorities and insurance companies.

Alan Haugh, President of the ICF said that the publications originated from the European Concrete Platform, which represents the major Pan-European concrete industry organisations and have been adapted for national use by the Irish Concrete Federation.

"The publications are two of a series of technical papers from the European Concrete Platform edited and adopted by the ICF in recognition of Irish standards and practices aimed at helping professionals to address the major challenge of how to design and construct high performance buildings that deliver genuine sustainability.

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"The documents being launched today are a product of an innovative initiative from our colleagues in Europe in association with each national organisation which presents a comprehensive review of the latest thinking on specific issues related to the use of concrete."

Speaking at the launch, Commissioner McCreevy said that energy efficiency is the number one priority of the European Commission with the policy goals of fighting climate change.

Referring to the guideline document, 'Concrete for Energy Efficient Buildings - The Benefits of Thermal Mass, Mr Haugh said that it demonstrates clearly how the thermal mass effects of concrete buildings provide an excellent example of efficient use of resources to achieve energy savings.

"The publication presents a thorough review of the energy efficiency benefits of concrete buildings, bringing together some of the most up-to-date research findings on the subject from the leading European authorities. Recent research in the UK has found that a masonry/concrete home that fully utilises its thermal mass can pay back its additional embodied CO2 compared with an equivalent timber-framed house within 11 years and then can continue to provide energy and CO2 savings over the life of the building." concluded Alan Haugh

Both publications, 'Concrete for Energy Efficient Building - the Benefits of Thermal Mass' and 'Comprehensive Fire Protection and Safety with Concrete' are aimed at helping professionals to address the major challenge of how to design and construct high performance buildings that deliver genuine sustainability and are available from the Irish Concrete Federation at Newlands Cross, Naas Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22 or by telephoning 01 464 0082.

(GK)