In line with the competition brief for the Irish Pavilion, EXPO 2000, Hanover, the building was conceived as a low energy building using passive cooling and heating. The two stone walls and the concrete precast floor are themselves thermally "massive" and act to absorb heat during the exhibition.
As the main exhibition floor is suspended, natural stack effect ventilation occurs through floor vents and opening roof windows. The central river feature has the effect of cooling the air which passes though perforated cladding in the central pod wall, under the first ramp and into the glass box. Retractable solar control blinds mitigates glare in the glass box which itself is used as a solar collector. Planted ash trees in front of the glass box also act as natural shading devices producing an animated pattern on the glass and Limestone wall. Increased roof insulation shields against excessive daytime heat gain. The admin block corridor is perforated decking, open to the ground below. The cooling effect used in the building is similar to that of a church interior experienced on a hot day.
Warm water for wash hand basins is provided from a roof mounted photo- voltaic cells. The building was neither heated nor air-conditioned.

The huge range of temperature in the Office building for the Stolichny Bank Headquarters in Moscow, varying from minus 40 deg C to plus 40 deg C called for an external insulated render in order to cut down on the heating and cooling load. As part of the building required the rebuilding of an existing 2-storey canal building, the difference in heights created an atrium flooding the depth of the building with natural light. As it was facing south, integrated louvers and light deflectors were designed to the atrium glazing to minimise glare and maximise deflection of light.

Closer to home, Murray O'Laoire Architects has provided two new house designs for Coillte Griffner, specifically launched for the Irish market. Griffner Coillte is a design build partnership between Austrian modular buildings manufacturers Griffner and Coillte Teoranta, the Irish state forestry company. Drawing its inspiration from the traditional log house, the contemporary interpretations provide 184sqm and 192sqm of living space respectively.
The Griffner-Haus has won many awards for its ecologically friendly design philosophy using only renewable forestry products and insulation materials using a mixture of recycled paper and jute. With the Griffner Coillte system, a house can be built in a factory in about a day and within a week the structure can be assembled on the raft foundation slab.
In the medium term it is planned to produce around 200 high-quality prefabricated homes per year. The aim is to deliver the first house in the second quarter 2003.