With the Scottish Government taking forward plans for a Scottish equivalent to Passivhaus, HFS Chief Executive Jane Wood was keen to understand the process, challenges and opportunities this type of build presents and so was lucky to recently visit the £6.9m affordable housing site in Gauldry, Fife that Campion Homes is delivering for Kingdom Housing Association.
Hosted by HFS Board member and Campion MD Susan Jackson, this is one of the few affordable housing developments built to Passivhaus standard.
Due to be completed in July, it features a diverse housing mix including family homes and cottage flats as well as amenity bungalows. Photovoltaic panels, air source heat pumps, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, waste water heat recovery and enhanced building fabrics will be provided along with superfast broadband and public electric vehicle charging points. A range of community benefits will also be delivered throughout the construction phase, including training opportunities and job creation.
Jane said:
“Whilst the Passivhaus standard is excellent, it does come with some challenging constraints and we will work collaboratively with members and the Scottish Government to agree a way to develop the future equivalent ‘Scottish Standard’, which will reduce the reliance on importing components from Europe, reduce costs and helps build the capacity of the Scottish supply chain. The benefits these homes bring to the customer are unquestionable: homes will be warmer and cost less to heat if the technology is used effectively. Presently, however, scalability remains far off.”
24 March 2023