Summary of recent activities for Scotland members

Back in August, I and a few members were involved in the Green Home Festival in Edinburgh. One of the shows was all about sustainable materials in construction with three Scotland-based pioneers showcasing sustainable bricks, paint and insulation. There was an interesting discussion on how to grow the market for these products, noting the challenges on cost and widespread value engineering.

At the end of September, Lucy Black from Kenoteq who manufacture the world’s most sustainable low-carbon brick, the K-Briq, invited me out to where this all happens: around four miles south of North Berwick. Andrew Holt hosted me on the tour and showed off the range of colours that the K-slip: made from near 100% recycled content, is available in. Lucy and Andrew would welcome members at the factory to learn more about how both of their flagship products are manufactured.

The Retrofit Roundtable

On a related topic to using mere sustainable construction materials is the ambition around retrofitting our homes. This to reduce their heat demand and cut the carbon emissions associated with heating homes. Earlier this year we teamed up with the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) and others to form the Retrofit Roundtable. We worked together to produce industry recommendations for the Scottish Government. In September we all met the Acting Minister for Climate Action, Dr Alasdair Allan to brief him and is team.

We emphasised a ‘fabric-first’ whole-home approach to retrofitting Scotland’s homes and I emphasised how important good local building contractors will be to delivering retrofit works.

Passivhaus under construction

Just outside of Coldstream, Carl Dodd of FMB Associate Member company Property Revolutions Ltd is building his new home. This to Passivhaus standards and in a style that is consistent with what I would describe as the vernacular ‘Berwickshire Cottage Style.’ As well as being wise to move from England to Scotland, Carl has used locally sourced materials and new techniques in his build. We discussed a range of topics from skills to deliver retrofit, the differences between the building standards systems in England and Scotland and why Carl is not having a heat pump installed in his new home. Carl will feature in the December / January edition of Master Builder magazine and my thanks to him for hosting me.

Later in October I will be visiting members in Shetland and on 6 November I will be presenting about the FMB’s Licensing campaign in the Scottish Parliament. Updates on both in November.

Authors

Gordon Nelson

FMB Scotland Hub Director, Federation of Master Builders

Director, Federation of Master Builders Scotland

Gordon has nearly twenty years’ experience of working in membership organisations in Scotland and joined the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) in 2014. Prior to this, he worked at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) and for Unilever in business development, membership management and business-to-business marketing roles. Amongst his responsibilities in his role as the Director for FMB Scotland are public affairs, media relations, governance and representing member’s interests to Scottish policy makers and stakeholders within the Scottish construction industry. Gordon is the Secretary of the Cross-Party Group on Construction in the Scottish Parliament, and he is a member of the Scottish Building Standards Futures Board. Gordon represents the FMB on Scotland’s Construction Industry Collective Voice: which is comprised of the leading construction trade and professional bodies. In spring 2023 Gordon was appointed as an industry co-chair of the Construction Leaderships Forum’s (CLF) Transformation Board.

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