Latest news with #Passivhaus
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Johnsons Nurseries supplies 19,000 plants for school project
A nursery has supplied more than 19,000 plants for a major landscaping project at a new low-energy school campus. Johnsons Nurseries Ltd, based between Harrogate and York, partnered with P1 Contractors to deliver the planting at the newly opened Woodmill and St Columba's RC High School in Dunfermline - billed as the world's largest certified Passivhaus education building. Graham Richardson, group managing director at Johnsons, said: "We are incredibly proud to have supplied the plants for such a landmark development in sustainable education. "Our team worked closely with P1 Contractors to ensure every plant was grown, selected, and delivered to meet the specific requirements of this pioneering Passivhaus project. "It's fantastic to see our stock forming part of a green space that will enrich the lives of students and staff for generations." Woodmill and St Columba's RC High School was officially certified to the Passivhaus Classic standard in June 2025, following its opening to pupils in August 2024.
Scotsman
7 days ago
- Business
- Scotsman
New Hires and Leadership Promotion at ECD Architects
Glasgow-based ECD Architects has announced a senior leadership promotion, while the firm also hires two new senior designers and as it continues to meet growing demand for energy efficient, Passivhaus certified buildings in the housing, education and public sectors. Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Alistair Cameron has been promoted to Joint Managing Director, with specific responsibility for Scotland, while Donald Simpson and Ron Nkomba have joined the practice as Associate Directors. Alistair Cameron steps up from Director, marking another successful milestone in his career with ECD Architects. He joined the practice in 2009 and has been instrumental in the delivery of major projects including the £12million BREEAM Excellent, new build Stevenson HIVE facility for the University of Glasgow, the refurbishment and reconfiguration of the historic Royal College, and the development of building decarbonisation plans for the University of Strathclyde, University of Dundee and the University of Edinburgh. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In his new role, Alistair will work alongside Joint Managing Director James Traynor, who has responsibility for the practice's delivery in England. Certified Passivhaus designer, Donald Simpson, has been appointed by ECD Architects Commenting on his promotion, Alistair, said: 'It's a particularly exciting and significant time for the development of energy efficient and environmentally conscious buildings, both here in Scotland and across the UK. We're involved in the Passivhaus Trusts' industry-wide initiative to promote the review of the Scottish equivalent for the Passivhaus standard, and there's growing interest in how the Standard's principles can reduce energy costs and emissions, while also improving wellbeing for building users. Our Joint Managing Director structure enhances our capabilities to effectively meet this growing intrigue and demand.' Certified Passivhaus Designer, Donald Simpson, has over 20 years of experience, including several award-winning and complex University developments and refurbishments, as well as the leadership of largescale University campus masterplans. He joins a team of 16 Certified Passivhaus Designers at ECD, which is pioneering the UK adoption of the Passivhaus Standard and principles to optimise building energy performance and support sustainability goals. Ron Nkomba also has extensive education experience, including the delivery of three RIBA award winning schools, as well as experience in the residential and workplace sectors. In his new role, he'll draw on his 20 years of experience to support the London team overseeing and managing a variety of their new build and retrofit projects, working with public and private sector clients across the sectors. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad James Traynor, added: 'Factors such as the Government's school rebuilding programme, education sector goals to improve energy efficiency, reduce building and estate running costs, transition to net zero, and enhance the comfort of learning environments, are all creating curiosity about Passivhaus. This is also driving appetite among other public-sector organisations, and we're developing our team to stay ahead of demand. Senior hire Ron Nkomba has been hired by ECD Architects 'Highly experienced, knowledgeable architects like Donald and Ron bring a wealth of insights that fit perfectly with our team, and we're looking forward to further advancing the development of Passivhaus Certified buildings throughout the UK.' Passivhaus is a technical standard that provides a design and construction process to ensure quality and deliver low energy buildings which can be externally certified. It adopts a whole-building approach based on clear, measured targets for a building's energy performance, airtightness and thermal comfort.
Daily Record
30-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Record
Long-awaited £36 million Blairgowrie Recreation Centre to open in July
Issues with the leaking pool appear to have been resolved and it is hoped the centre will eventually open some time next month After numerous delays and setbacks, the new £36 million Blairgowrie Recreation Centre is finally expected to open mid-July. On Wednesday, June 18 PKC's strategic lead for Property Services Stephen Crawford told the Finance and Resources Committee issues with the leaking pool had now been resolved. The news has been warmly welcomed, particularly by the three ward councillors for Blairgowrie and Glens. Work got under way on the replacement centre back in June 2023 - after the project was continually held up. Brexit, the COVID pandemic, a drainage issue and market volatility caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine were all blamed for delays. Scotland's first ultra-low energy swimming pool and recreation centre was scheduled to open in December 2024. However, it was agreed it would open early 2025 to avoid disruption to Blairgowrie High School's prelim timetable with pupils sitting exams there both before and after the Christmas holidays. But once the swimming pool was filled, several leaks were discovered and contractors have spent the past few months working to resolve the issue. On Wednesday, PKC's strategic lead for Property Services Stephen Crawford announced the good news to councillors. He said: "The pool is now full and we're working through commissioning of the centre - hopefully to get handover mid-July." He assured councillors they would seek to "minimise" disruption whilst the old centre on Beeches Road - which is over 40 years old - closes down and the new one, built next to it and Blairgowrie High School, opens. Mr Crawford said: "We'd originally talked about a period of two weeks but we will try and make the period of non-delivery of services as small as possible - moving staff across from the existing facility, getting them trained, familiar and ready to open." The state-of-the-art facility has a: six-lane 25-metre swimming pool with a movable floor; four-court sports hall; two-court sports hall/gymnasium; fitness suite; dance studio; changing facilities; PE classroom, office and a floodlit synthetic outdoor pitch has also been developed as part of the project. It has been hailed as being Scotland's first leisure centre to be built to environmentally-friendly Passivhaus standards. for the use of both Blairgowrie High School and the wider community. All three local councillors were excited to hear the news. SNP Blairgowrie and Glens ward councillor Tom McEwan - who was at Wednesday's meeting - said: "It was great to hear an update today from council officers that issues around the pool liner and water leakage were now looking to be at an end. This will allow the delayed commissioning of the centre by Live Active Leisure in preparation for opening in the coming weeks. "The final phase of the process is to remove the redundant old building and finish new parking and landscaping, which - in my understanding - will start in the Autumn. "The residents of Blairgowrie and Rattray, the wider East Perthshire area which the High School serves, have waited many more years than was necessary for this new sports and leisure facility. Ensuring the financing for the centre was confirmed and the project could start was in the SNP administration's first capital budget, as we were aware that continued delay was not an option. "The new centre in Blairgowrie is an amazing facility which will add to the wider sports and leisure facilities in Perth and Kinross, newly approved in the council's capital programme." Blairgowrie and Glens Conservative councillor Caroline Shiers said: "I am very pleased that finally we are heading towards an opening date. I fully understand how frustrating this final delay has been. I know everyone is excited to be able to use the new facility. "I raised an issue with officers of the impact of the delay on the plans for demolishing the existing facility and enabling parking to be created in that space. It is important this is carried out in a way that means minimal disruption to residents who live in the area around the school and recreation centre. I welcome the ongoing discussions with officers about this and I am confident Mr Crawford and his team will take this into consideration with the contractors." Having had a sneak preview, Conservative ward councillor Bob Brawn believes the new centre will be "worth waiting on". He said: "I'm pleased to hear that we seem to finally have a date for the formal handover for the new recreation centre and thereby a date to formally open it. "This has been a long time coming, not least because of the recent problems around a leak in the swimming pool. Obviously, PKC would not take on an asset that still had problems within its structure. "From what I've seen of the building in previous months, this new recreation centre will be something that has been worth waiting on, to be proud of – for the school and residents and visitors alike. Undoubtedly, this will be a great draw across all of East Perthshire and hopefully beyond." Earlier this year council leader Grant Laing - who described the catalogue of delays as "extremely frustrating" - asked PKC's Scrutiny and Performance Committee to undertake a review of the issues that have led to the delays.
Herald Sun
24-06-2025
- Business
- Herald Sun
Best custom build award winner scoops an auction win
An award-winning Gippsland house that's full of treasured family memories changed hands for $1.21m on the weekend. Owners Zoe McCarthy and her husband Paddy bought 51 Cashin St, Inverloch, about eight years ago. At the time, the block was home to an older beach house. RELATED: Gippsland: Former Saint Austinn 'Aussie' Jones and wife Kate list Bunyip house 'Triple vacuum sealed' Passivhaus breaks Inverloch house price record with $3.25m sale South Gippsland: Versace Castle, aka Villa Versace, hits the market – armoury and all Rather than demolish the residence, they gifted it to some people who moved it to a new location in Bass. The McCarthys then engaged Inverloch-based Baybuilt Homes and its director Bill Blundy to build them a four-bedroom house. Shaped like the letter C, the residence features a kitchen fitted with an engineered stone island bench, two living areas, a study nook, outdoor shower, undercover dining area and wraparound deck. 'We love our living area where you have one big open room with a pitched ceiling and skylights that allow a huge amount of natural light in, Ms McCarthy said. 'That's like the heart of the home because you've got the kitchen, dining and living space.' Along with their three children, they have hosted plenty of barbecues and Christmases. 'We just open the doors up and have everyone sitting outside on the deck,' Ms McCarthy said. Stepping inside the front door, a 'false entry' leads to the deck. It was inspired by a similar feature in Balinese-style pads, designed so that homeowners can avoid trekking sand and wet clothes through a house after visiting the beach. The abode even won a Master Builders' Best Custom Build award in 2024. 'We were pretty chuffed, I think there were 50-plus homes in the category,' Ms McCarthy said. While she and her husband were sad to sell the house, they are moving to be closer to family. Ray White Inverloch principal Fiona McMahon-Hughes said three bidders competed for the keys at Saturday's auction conducted by auctioneer Megan Harris. The home was announced on the market after bidding hit the $1m mark, with the final sales price delivering a sum $210,000 higher. Ms McMahon-Hughes said that the successful buyers, a family, were 'absolutely ecstatic'. 'The sellers were excited to hand over the keys to a lovely new family,' Ms McMahon-Hughes said. Sign up to the Herald Sun Weekly Real Estate Update. Click here to get the latest Victorian property market news delivered direct to your inbox. MORE: Collingwood: 'The Lamington' pad's red hot auction result Dan Andrews' 'ghost' home legacy revealed as apartment towers stall $100m James Packer backed project's wellbeing, longevity boost
The Guardian
25-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
The pros and cons of Passivhaus buildings
Regarding Adrian Birch's letter (Britain should adopt the Passivhaus standard to cut energy costs in new homes, 21 May), we have been attempting to build a Passivhaus standard home. However, we cannot justify building to that standard because the cost has risen over the past two years to £3,800 per sq metre for a 165-sq-metre timber-frame build. Obviously, if the nation's housebuilding companies did try to build to Passivhaus standard, the costs would be less due to economies of scale but, given their constant complaining that they cannot afford to do so, and our government's refusal to stipulate higher environmental standards, it seems highly unlikely that they will try to future-proof their often poorly built and designed homes. As for our desperately needed social homes, if building costs remain as high, how many will be able to be built to a Passivhaus standard? After extensive revisions to our plans, we are getting closer to building an energy-efficient home that incorporates many of the Passivhaus features, but at a lower cost and, potentially, a lower energy performance certificate score. Passivhaus standard should be the future for British housebuilding, but not at current price and Jane HillPerth Over 15 years ago as one of the trustees overseeing the renovation of the Mildmay Community Centre in north London, we went for the Passivhaus standard of serious insulation, solar panels and ground-source heating. Despite considerable opposition at the time, the building was the first retrofitted Passivhaus standard community centre in England. It is warm, beautiful and efficient. Passivhaus is a long established standard in Germany, and could and should be adopted in the UK for new builds. But as anyone can see if they visit our community centre, it is also perfect and appropriate for retrofitting old LittlewoodLondon Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
