One of my proudest accomplishments to date is the building of the first certified A-rated (super energy efficient) house in Ireland. I had just given up a well paying job in a multi-national blue chip. It was slap bang in the middle of the Celtic Tiger years (2002-2007). I had returned home to my roots in rural north Cork. I was helping my dad to realise a vision he had for the (very small) village that he lived in. That vision was to grow the village of Castlemagner into a sustainable vibrant community. I took on the role of building out almost 100 houses in this quaint village that he had secured planning permission for.
Once I was familiar with the task in hand it became apparent to me that the construction industry as was delivering a very poor product to the people it served. This reasons for this are diverse but can be distilled down to lax inspection, poor regulations/standards and a powerful lobby group. I was somewhat disillusioned with this state of affairs but then something really interesting happened.