Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

‘We no longer have to worry about heating bills’: Aberdeen couple Joana and Fredrik say their energy efficient home has been a game changer

Joana Lindbom-Gomes and her husband Fredrik say their new home has cut their energy bills and made dampness a thing of the past.

Joana Lindbom-Gomes, pictured, says her energy efficient home is saving her a fortune on heating bills.
Joana Lindbom-Gomes, pictured, says her energy efficient home is saving her a fortune on heating bills. Image: Scott Cameron Baxter

Swapping their drafty Victorian tenement for an energy efficient home turned out the best move ever for Joana Lindbom-Gomes and her husband Fredrik.

Struggling with soaring heating costs on their poorly insulated flat, the couple who both work at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, started looking for an energy efficient home.

They eventually spotted a home that ticked all the right boxes at Hazelwood, Dandara’s new development on the western edge of Aberdeen.

Described as a ‘Passivhaus‘, Joana says their new home has saved them hundreds of pounds as it boasts an even temperature throughout the year thanks to carefully planned insulation, ventilation and light.

Joana Lindbom-Gomes says she has saved so much money on energy bills since moving into her Passivhaus home. Image: Scott Cameron Baxter

‘The house had the asking price lowered because they couldn’t sell it – people didn’t understand what a Passivhaus was,” says Joana.

‘We now dry all our clothes inside whatever the weather.

“We have a clothes rack in our room and by the evening the washing is dry – wherever you put it.

“That’s a benefit that we no longer think about.

“I have never seen condensation on our windows.”

Low energy bills and no dampness

While their friends and colleagues faced worryingly high heating bills last winter, Joana and Fredrik have been paying barely anything to keep their home cosy.

“I wake up in the morning and I feel grateful,’ says Joana.

“It’s one less thing to worry about.”

With the energy crisis ongoing and gas and electricity prices rising by 10%, Joana hopes that more people can benefit from Passivhaus properties.

“If more people were able to live in houses like this, they would be happier, healthier, and better off,” says Joana.

Joana says that drying clothes has never been easier thanks to their super insulated property. Image: Scott Cameron Baxter

‘Better insulated homes is the way forward’…

The Lindbon-Gomes’s home was built as a pilot by Dandara in 2021, with two of the homes on their Hazelwood development built to the higher insulation standards of a Passivhaus, one using Scottish materials and supplies.

The pilot was funded by Scotland’s innovation hub, BE-ST, based in Hamilton.

Caitriona Jordan, head of retrofit at BE-ST, said that the move to a higher standard of build, such as Passivhaus, would be a fantastic for Scotland.

“There is no shortage of ingenuity and capability in Scotland to be able to do this,” says Caitriona.

“It is possible to train the workforce in Passivhaus and meet the needs for implementation of the new building regulations at scale.”

Joana hopes more people can benefit from better insulated properties. Image: Scott Cameron Baxter

Alford developer set to build super insulated homes

One local housing developer set to build Passivhaus properties is Coldwells Build in Alford.

‘We’ve put all our joiners and builders through Passivhaus training,” says Clare Booth from the construction company.

“They can really see the benefits – and they’re asking, ‘why wasn’t Scotland building like this 20 years ago?’’

Conversation