A former joiner who made the career pivot into renewables four years ago is celebrating after his Glasgow-headquartered green energy company earned a tranche of award recognitions.
Sean Hogan launched Aventus Eco in 2023, after beginning his career in joinery before being promoted to site manager and eventually contracts manager.
The move into renewables followed a conversation with long-term client Ed Broussard, who specialises in investing in growing businesses and is an investor and board member at Heat Geek, which has created a network of independent renewables installers. Advising Sean of a gap in the market in Scotland for a high-quality home renewable offering, he suggested the career switch. Now business partners, Ed made a £100,000 investment in Aventus Eco in 2024.
The firm employs a number of engineers with over 15 years’ experience and specialises in heat pump, solar panel, and solar battery storage installations and services. It was recognised at the Scottish Energy Efficiency Awards 2025 in the categories of Renewable Heat Installer and Contractor of the Year (commended) and New Build or Renovation Project of the Year (Highly Commended) for the design and installation of a full air source heat pump and underfloor heating project in a new property in Bathgate. Aventus Eco has also been announced as a double finalist at the upcoming Scottish Home Improvement Awards in the categories of Best Speciality Trade and Outstanding Customer Service.
“I spent two years doing solid training on heat pumps, solar, and battery,” Sean told Project Scotland. “I was new to the industry and learning everything from scratch meant I didn’t have any bad habits – I didn’t come in with any old-fashioned rules of thumb or any old habits.”
The firm undertakes weekly training courses with a range of specialist partners. The focus on training stems from Sean’s belief that Scotland will not reach its net zero targets unless good workmanship is demanded across the sector.
“You always hear that heat pumps are ‘rubbish’, but they’re actually not,” Sean added. “Anytime I go to a job where someone’s got a problem, the actual heat pump is fine – it’s doing what it’s supposed to. The issue is the person who designed and installed it.”
In some cases, the heat pump is unsuited to the property in which it has been installed. Sean explained this leads to a requirement for increased power, resulting in homeowners being shocked by higher bills. A 2023 study by Build Test Solutions, Elmhurst Energy, and Veritherm found that 70% of properties in the UK had the wrong size of heat pump installed.
A recent example of this was at a family farm just outside Glasgow, where a family of six resided. Approaching Aventus Eco after being hit by monthly energy bills of between £600 and £700, a survey found that a heat pump installed five years ago was ‘roughly oversized’ by 300%.
“It was far too big for the house,” Sean explained. “They couldn’t get the heat up to 18 degrees because the cold areas of the house were stealing all the heat. The underfloor heating was also undersized, and there were lots of extra controls and pumps that didn’t need to be on the air source heat pump, with all the pumps being on speed 3 instead of speed 1, so they were burning significant amounts of electricity.”
Aventus Eco installed 30 solar panels and 20kw of battery storage at the farm, and also removed the additional underfloor heating controls and unnecessary extra pumps. At the time of writing, the farm’s first bills had reduced to £24-£26 per month – with the solar panels having wiped out the first three-month bills and the excess solar being sold back to the grid for £120.
To provide potential customers with confidence, Aventus Eco provides a free survey, conducted by Sean himself.
“I’m not there to sell anyone anything,” he stated. “I’m not a salesman; I’m an engineer, a tradesman. The first thing I ask is, ‘why do you want a heat pump/solar?’ I want to figure out why they want it, what they think it is, and how they think it works. If they’re in the wrong mindset, I’ll tell them it’s not for them; I don’t want to waste their time or have them spending money when they don’t need to.”
A price isn’t given at the point of survey, but rather after the utility bills, energy performance tickets, and house has been analysed to identify the optimal system for the property. The client is then given access to a group chat with Sean and specialist colleagues, so any questions can be asked without having to rely on a formal email system.
“We’re doing air source heat pump systems up to £25,000 – that’s a lot of money, that’s somebody’s savings,” Sean continued. “It’s a lot of responsibility on us, and we have to make sure the client trusts that the company is going to do the right job for them – and when we leave, they’re going to have lower energy bills and lower carbon emissions.”
A significant project was carried out on behalf of a 74-year-old pensioner in Cumbernauld, who had a new boiler system installed in his large house two years previously. Due to the property’s old age, it contained 8mm microboard pipework, which blocked the upstairs pipes, resulting in no heating in the upper floors.
“We did a full heat loss survey on the property and came up with a plan of attack,” Sean explained. The firm also helped the pensioner secure £15,000 in grant funding for the works. “We-re-piped the whole ground and first floor, added seven new radiators and replaced a few existing radiators, and installed a low-temperature Panasonic 9Kw heat pump. His house is running perfect and he’s over the moon.”
Aventus Eco is fully booked until January 2026, highlighting the growing demand for its services. Looking ahead, plans are in place for a recruitment drive, and the company is also hoping to launch into the commercial sector.
