Deep Retrofit Conference Speakers

Dermot Bannon is an Architect and Broadcaster. He is best known for his role in RTE’s hugely successful Room to Improve, which has transformed the homes of hundreds of clients.  Dermot is also an author and his bestselling book ‘Love your Home’ teaches you how to understand the fundamentals of design.  He has written for many national publications including The Sunday Times, The Irish Times and the Sunday Business Post in both lifestyle and property sections.   Dermot established his own practice, Dermot Bannon Architects in 2008. He lives in Drumcondra with his wife and three children.

Elena Cattani has a Masters Degree in Construction Engineering at the University of Bologna and holds a PhD in Architecture Renovation and Existing Buildings. She opened her engineering and consultancy office in 2012 and became Energy Manager in 2014. She currently works as a researcher and professional in Emilia Romagna.

Eoin Madigan is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, previously working with PwC in Dublin, London and New York. He has been the managing director of Waterford Insulation (WI) for the past ten years. He has overseen the transition of WI from an insulation pure play into a full service provider in the deep retrofit energy efficiency sector encompassing all fabric insulation measures, heating system, ventilation delivery, solar PV and glazing and door replacement. As lead project manager, he has been responsible for significant delivery in the deep retrofit space under various SEAI programmes (including WHS; BEC; Warmth and Wellbeing; BEH and Deep retrofit) and Local Authority programmes. He has specialized in the scoping and design of projects, including many older properties to achieve A rated BER.

Tomás is in the business of sustainability since 1993, operating mostly from Ireland and the US. He designed and lives in the first Certified Passive House in English speaking world which was completed in 2004. Tomás is a globally accredited Passive House Building Certifier and Passive House Trainer. He is also a researcher working on several international collaborations focused on significantly reducing carbon emissions of buildings and communities, including the Fit-to-nZEB project which addresses the core topic of this conference. Tomás is currently assisting Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Body in developing a national skills specification on nZEB for six construction trades and consulting on a major deep retrofit social housing project with Dublin City Council . 

Jan W. Bleyl has over 20 years of experience in demand-side energy efficiency and renewable project development & implementation in national + international contexts, many of them ESCo projects. Current interests are: Life cycle cost benefit analyses; bankable project calculations & financing; project facilitation and simplified M&V (sM&V).

Born in Stuttgart in 1974, Jan Steiger pursued a career as a traditional architect through his studies at the University of Stuttgart complemented with various internships. He became inspired by the Passive House Standard in 2004 working for Michael Tribus Architecture in South Tyrol as internal project manager on energy efficiency and Passive House projects. As of 2011, Jan has worked as a researcher at the Passive House Institute where he leads the development of PHPP and thereby is involved in the coordination of projects such as the DEEVi and the EU-funded project EuroPHit. Always seeking to provide a simple understanding of cost-effective and energy-efficient construction, Jan is also an experienced speaker and certifier of buildings, doors and building systems.

Shane Colclough Is a Chartered Engineer and carries out research at the Centre for Sustainable Technologies in Ulster University in addition to being principle at the consultancy firm Energy Expertise Limited. His research area of interest for the past 10 years has focused on low-energy dwellings in Temperate Maritime Climates.

He believes passionately in the potential afforded by the low-energy building standards in providing a better standard of housing for our citizens, simultaneously reducing Ireland’s dependence on fossil fuels and eliminating fuel poverty. He is co-chairman of the Passive House Association of Ireland and has authored papers on the topic of passive houses & energy storage in addition to presenting at national and international conferences. He is an experienced consultant and serves in the EU as an Expert on Energy-Efficient Buildings.

Jim Gannon is Chief Executive of SEAI, having joined the organisation in May 2016. He was formerly Director at RPS Group, leading the Energy, Environment and Health and Safety functions, with a core focus on the energy sector throughout his career. This has encompassed policy, infrastructure and technology projects at a European, National and Regional level for both the private and public sector. Jim is a Civil Engineering Graduate of NUI Galway, with a Masters in Environmental Assessment from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and an MBA from the UCD Smurfit School of Business. Jim also serves as a member of the national Climate Change Advisory Council.

Marion Jammet is business development manager at the Irish Green Building Council. In this role, she has been responsible for managing both the Build Upon and EccoPro projects. Build Upon was a large scale consultation process to co-design an ambitious national renovation strategy for Ireland. Based on the recommendations received through that process, she is now exploring the opportunity of introducing a user-friendly holistic energy efficiency accreditation system for building professionals as part of EccoPro. Marion’s working background is in project management and policy development. She holds a MA in European Affairs from Sciences-Po Strasbourg and a MSc in environmental sustainability from UCD.

Jens Laustsen has a Masters of Architecture and has worked more than 30 years in the field of energy efficiency in buildings. He has experience with construction and renovation of individual buildings, research and demonstration projects. Jens was actively involved in the development of the first EPBD directive and having a leading role in the negotiation of this directive on behalf of Denmark. Now he runs his own company 2peach aps and has over the last 4 years advised more than 40 countries in policy development and stakeholder engagement.

Since 2015 Jens has been the coordinator of Concerted Action EPBD IV, and he is currently developing and leading the new CA EPBD V, which includes all European Union Countries plus Norway.

Dr Peter Rickaby is an architect with over thirty-five years of experience as a specialist energy and sustainability consultant working for the building and housing industries in the UK and across the EU. He has written, co-authored or edited most of the UK technical guidance on domestic energy efficiency and retrofit, including the RIBA's Climate Change Tools, the Construction Products Association's Introduction to Low-Carbon Domestic Refurbishment, the Institute for Sustainability's Low Carbon Domestic Retrofit Guides, the energy and sustainability sections of the National Housing Federation's Managing the Assets guide and the National Housing Maintenance Forum's online guide Maintaining Quality Homes: Keeping Residents Warm and Healthy. During the last three years he has led the development, implementation and evaluation of Peabody's award-winning Condensation Damp and Mould programme for the Thamesmead estate in south-east London; he is now working to disseminate the techniques developed at Thamesmead in the social housing sector. Now semi-retired, Peter chairs the BSI Retrofit Standards Task Group, sits on the Implementation Board for the Each Home Counts Review, and is the training lead for the UK Centre for Moisture in Buildings.