Trading up: Richmond Wood, Glanmire, €550,000

Originally built in the early 1990s, this detached bungalow at Cork’s Richmond Wood got a makeover and energy efficiency upgrade in 2009, gratis of architect John Morehead, who brings new-builds to passive and near passive energy standards.

In this case, Mr Morehead added to the comforts of this 2,230 sq ft four-bed home for a family member, who’s now about to move on.

It hits a pretty impressive B3 energy rating, thanks to things like high insulation standards, a wood-burning high-efficiency Jotul stove in the living/breakfast room, and there’s a bank of standalone solar tubes out in the front garden on this 0.2 acre sloping site, aimed up at the sun: it must be thrumming hot water this past fortnight. And, for other times, there’s oil central heating.