Construction has gotten underway on the first new homes in a new net zero carbon housing development in Edinburgh.

Located on Waterfront Avenue in Granton, 'Plot D1' will comprise 75 one, two, and three-bedroom apartments alongside several commercial units.

The apartments will be rented as social housing owned and managed by the City of Edinburgh Council or to households on low to middle incomes at a 'mid-market' rate that is lower than private rental rates.

The development will form a significant part of the ongoing £1.3bn regeneration of Granton's waterfront and will set a roadmap for the future of net zero carbon housing delivery in Scotland.

This is the first of three confirmed pilot projects being delivered by The Edinburgh Home Demonstrator (EHD) – a programme providing an innovative approach to building affordable net zero carbon homes at scale.

The Scottish Government-backed programme has engaged a community of research and development experts to show how affordable net zero carbon homes can be created at scale across the six local authorities within the Edinburgh and Southeast City Deal Region.

CCG (Scotland) is leading construction of the 'Plot D1' site on behalf of the Council alongside Anderson Bell + Christie, engineers G3 Consulting, and energy consultant, Carbon Futures.

Leveraging the Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) concept of offsite manufacturing on the pilot project, CCG is using the 'iQ' Timber System for the build, a panelised wall solution that is then integrated into a structural steel frame. The system is manufactured in a factory environment with integrated components resulting in a much more efficient and faster build programme with one storey a week being completed on-site.

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The 'iQ' System plays a crucial role in achieving net zero carbon with inherent performance designed to lower energy use as a result of minimal heat loss.

Renewable technologies are then integrated, including an on-site energy centre complete with a combined Air Source Heat Pump system (cASHP) and solar PV panel systems, installed by CCG Group member Arc-Tech (Scotland), that combine with the improved fabric performance to achieve net zero.

City of Edinburgh Council Leader, Cammy Day, said: "The future of housebuilding is happening here in Edinburgh, where we are proud to lead the biggest and most innovative net zero carbon development in the country.

"The pilot itself is helping to create and support jobs in green industries like offsite sustainable manufacturing. This is exciting to see and something our wider regeneration of Granton will build on.

"What we are doing with our partners at the Granton Waterfront is truly trailblazing and will see the community become a test bed for future innovation, skills development and much-needed employment opportunities – all while pioneering 75 new net zero carbon affordable homes."

Calum Murray, CCG (Scotland) Director and EHD Board Member, said: "CCG are pioneers for offsite manufacturing in Scotland. We operate from one of the UK's most advanced facilities and use technological procedures to create homes in a controlled setting that are inherently designed to deliver an enhanced quality standard and minimise heat loss.

"For Granton D1, we will then integrate our entirely renewable energy system onsite. This uses several measures developed in partnership with Carbon Futures that combine with this improved standard of build to achieve our net zero target.

"The EHD programme is key to helping us to reach that target and this milestone at Granton D1 will be one of many along the way. It will be an exciting journey and one in which we are delighted to be playing our part alongside the Council and our trusted partners."

Ainslie McLaughlin, Chair of the Edinburgh Home Demonstrator Programme Project Board, said: "The homes are quickly taking shape thanks to the offsite manufacture of key components. The productivity gains and speed of construction delivered by offsite MMC make it an important solution in the delivery of net zero carbon homes, especially to meet the demand for affordable housing. Scotland has both the capability and resources to scale this up, there is a real opportunity here."

The programme is delivered by multiple stakeholders including partners from The City of Edinburgh Council, Offsite Solutions Scotland, Edinburgh Napier University, the University of Edinburgh, Scottish Futures Trust, and Built Environment – Smarter Transformation (BE-ST).