A Scottish firm is set to become the first in the UK to build a timber engineering factory that will be powered solely by renewable energy.
NorFrame, the timber frame specialist based in Foveran, Aberdeenshire will manufacture timber kit frames for homes, schools and commercial buildings using power generated from an on-site Anaerobic Digestion plant fuelled by silage from a neighbouring farm – eliminating the need for fossil fuels to heat or power facility and its processes.
Spanning 31,000 sq ft with a completion date of Spring 2023, the £4m factory will initially create 11 new jobs and safeguard a further 14 in a rural area, produce 20 timber kits per week, and have the capability to meet demand from Scotland’s private and public sectors.
Gregor Davidson, co-Founder of NorFrame said: “Our goal was to solve a carbon footprint problem that would provide 100% assurance that a timber manufacturing process can be clean, green, and cost effective.
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He described how the heat-capturing design was a 'eureka moment' that came after months of testing and refining.
He explained: "It means that we take plant silage, ferment it for 6 months and then feed it into the Anaerobic Digestion Plant which will power the factory. During that process, heat is created. Our idea is to capture that heat - which would have otherwise gone to waste – and redirect it to heat the entire factory and office space. And any waste from the digestion process, is then used as fertiliser for next year’s crop. It is a fully organic, closed fuel cycle and we know it will make a significant contribution to Scotland’s net zero ambitions.”
The neighbouring Anaerobic Digestor has been operational since 2014 and relies on feed in tariff (FiT) for viability.
Its current FiT agreement ends in 13 years’ time which meant it needed a lifeline to avoid being rendered redundant.
NorFrame’s factory will use up to 60% of the plant’s renewable electricity, assuring the plant’s future.
In June 2022, the Scottish Government announced new measures to slash carbon emissions of all new-build homes by a third (32%). The new energy standards also apply to newly built non-domestic buildings and form plans to reduce emissions across Scotland’s building stock by more than two thirds by 2030.
Scottish Enterprise is providing NorFrame with £750,000 of financial support from the Low Carbon Manufacturing Challenge Fund. This is the first grant awarded through the fund.
In its submission, NorFrame detailed how many of its products achieve PassivHaus standards in thermal performance, air tightness and detailing, meaning its timber kits will meet rigorous energy efficient standards, therefore reducing the need for space heating in any building.
The Low Carbon Manufacturing Challenge Fund is a competitive mechanism which was created to support innovation in low carbon technology, processes and innovation. It is a key action from Making Scotland’s Future, a partnership between government, public agencies, industry and academia who are taking forward a programme of activity designed to secure a strong, sustainable future for Scotland’s manufacturing sector.
Rhona Allison, Managing Director of Business Growth at Scottish Enterprise, said: "Identifying, combining, and harnessing the carbon-reducing technologies at its fingertips will see NorFrame take a truly circular approach to timber kit manufacturing that eliminates any use of fossil fuels. It’s exactly the kind of innovative thinking that the Fund was designed to stimulate and demonstrates to other manufacturers the benefits of placing decarbonisation at the heart of their businesses.”
