It's exactly five years since the eight apartment Green Building in Dublin's Temple Bar was the property buzz story of the season.

More than 1,000 potential buyers made inquiries, intrigued by solar panels and wind turbines on top of the building, and a roof which opens automatically in warm weather and closes again when the temperature drops or rain starts. They seemed expensive at the time, ranging from £75,000 for two-bedroom flats to £120,000 for three-bedroom penthouses. Now, however, Douglas Newman Good is quoting £290,000-plus for a penthouse to be auctioned on October 13th.

Two of the smaller apartments which originally cost between £75,000 and £90,000 have already been re-sold - one for around £200,000 recently, and the other for £237,000 over a year ago.

But, of course, September, 1994, was another age in Dublin property terms. Queues outside new housing developments were sufficiently novel to merit photographs in the newspapers. The line-up outside the Green Building started 24 hours before the apartments went on sale and the first man in the queue bought the penthouse which is now for auction.

Five years later, the building is wearing well. Lighting, heating and hot water cost much less than usual as a result of the gadgetry on the roof, the high standard of insulation, and the way heat is transferred from the bedrock 500 metres underground. The high atrium which rises up in the middle of the building is still overflowing with greenery - although the original fountain at the bottom of it has been filled in. Haus, the furniture store, operates on the ground floor and basement, and there are offices on the first floor, with the eight apartments - mostly owner-occupied - on the upper floors.

Decor in the penthouse for sale is on minimalist lines - plain white walls throughout, apart from a bit of exposed brickwork in the hallway; mosaic-style cement floors hand-painted by the Decorative Art Centre in the sittingroom and two of the bedrooms; and plain wooden fittings in the kitchen.

The hallway leads into the main reception room - a large, rectangular-shaped room, with a curving wall catching the eye and big windows opening on to a balcony. A chunky door seems to swivel into the kitchen - it feels heavy because it has food shelves built into the back of it.

All three bedrooms will take double beds; the main one has a small en suite shower room off, and a glass door to a curved balcony. In total, the apartment has 883 sq ft of floor space.

True to its name, the Green Building has no car-parking, but there is a bicycle park.