Clare Booth from Coldwells Build outlines the company’s Passivhaus trajectory
COLDWELLS Build is an Aberdeenshire contractor that pivoted to Passivhaus in 2024 to help address the climate and energy bill crises. We believe all new homes should guarantee low heating bills, minimal maintenance, reduced carbon emissions, and healthy, comfortable living.
Coldwells Build has been building homes in the Aberdeenshire area for over a decade and now offers a turnkey Passivhaus solution for north east Scotland self-builders, helping to simplify the process of delivering certified Passivhaus homes. Since launching our pre-designed Passivhaus range, demand has been high, with roughly one new order every six weeks. In the 18 months since we launched, we now have 12 Passivhaus homes on our order books. It’s been brilliant.
Predesigned and prefabricated
Our service offers predesigned, prefabricated Passivhaus homes, and we handle the planning permission and building warrant application. There are eight designs to choose from, with starting prices from £214,000, and each can be tailored with layout changes to make it your own. We wanted to simplify the path to Passivhaus ownership, by taking the complexity out of the design and build process. The Coldwells Build Passivhaus range condenses 3000+ decisions, design choices, material selections, and layouts into one convenient package for a fixed price.
We pulled in the experts to develop our range and have used experienced Passivhaus designers John Gilbert Architects and Passivhaus Certifiers WARM to ensure we were building on Passivhaus expertise and knowledge. All our tradespeople have undertaken the Certified Passivhaus Tradesperson course.
High demand
There are a number of reasons why self-builders are choosing Passivhaus. The escalating costs of oil-fired heating, a common heating source in north east Scotland, exacerbated by global geopolitical events, is one driver. The impact of global heating and climate concerns is another factor. 2025 being confirmed as the UK’s hottest summer on record has made people think about future-proofing their homes and choosing homes equipped for summer comfort.
Myth-busting!
There are still some myths to bust about Passivhaus. We’ve needed to do some education about Passivhaus for clients. We’ve found that the term airtightness puts people off — it makes people think it’s a hermetically sealed box. We now say draught-free, which people can relate to more. And we make sure to emphasise that you most definitely CAN open windows in a Passivhaus.
There is also some resistance to air source heat pumps (ASHP). People are worried that they won’t work in highland Scotland.
Passivhaus is good for business
With the Scottish Government’s Scottish Passivhaus Equivalent policy currently out to its second consultation, and Passivhaus looking likely to be deemed to satisfy Scottish building standards, we would encourage others in the Scottish construction industry to get trained up in the methodology and develop Passivhaus services and capabilities. Our first Passivhaus project in Edzell in Angus is close to completion and certification. We couldn’t be prouder to be part of the Passivhaus momentum that is taking place in Scotland.
