The City of Edinburgh Council and CCG (Scotland) have received the prestigious 2025 Unlock Net Zero ‘Collaboration of the Year – Partnership' award, recognising their exemplary approach to delivering net zero homes.

The award celebrates their work on Western Villages, Scotland's largest 'net zero ready' residential development, which forms a major part of the £1.3 billion Granton Waterfront Regeneration.

Unlock Net Zero, an organisation dedicated to educating, informing, and connecting businesses deploying net zero approaches, hosted their third annual awards on Tuesday, 24 June 2025, in Manchester, as part of the Housing 2025 Conference. The City of Edinburgh Council and CCG (Scotland) were nominated in two categories for their pioneering Western Villages project.

The development is a product of highly collaborative procurement and partnership working. CCG (Scotland) was directly appointed in 2020 to deliver the project on a design and build basis. A contractor-led design team, including Cooper Cromar and Bayne Stevenson Associates, then collaborated with the Council and Arcadis to develop the masterplan. Despite the challenges posed by the global pandemic, shifts in working practices, and adaptations to new renewable technologies, the 11-acre brownfield site progressed from concept to construction start in just 24 months.

Once fully completed by the end of the summer, the development will provide 388 one, two, and three-bedroom social and mid-market rent homes, alongside 56 for private sale (led by CCG Homes). These new homes will significantly support the Council's efforts to address the current housing emergency facing the city.

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Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener Lezley Marion Cameron expressed her delight at the recognition: "I am delighted that the excellent collaborative and partnership working by our team and our partners delivering Edinburgh's Western Village development has been recognised by winning this award. Given the ongoing reality of Edinburgh's Housing Emergency, and the costs and challenges that brings to people and families in housing need, and to the Council, building significant numbers of new net-zero homes and setting a high standard for energy efficiency is a vital part of our efforts to tackle Edinburgh's housing and homelessness pressures and to reduce our carbon footprint."

Western Villages has been constructed to CCG's ‘Net Zero Home' build standard, which tackles operational carbon emissions through an enhanced building fabric, featuring CCG's iQ Timber System and triple-glazed windows, combined with zero-emissions heating. The project's energy strategy was developed in collaboration with Carbon Futures, who digitally modelled up to nine different heating solutions to identify the most practical and cost-effective option for achieving the Council's net zero ambitions.

The chosen technology, a combined air source heat pump system, is described as one of the most sophisticated and largest of its kind in the UK. It provides space heating and hot water from a centralised source, eliminating the need for individual water cylinders in each dwelling. This advanced energy performance will result in lower fuel bills for tenants and owner-occupiers, and the build standard is future-proofed against evolving legislative requirements as Edinburgh transitions towards net zero.

CCG Director, Calum Murray, added: "As the flagship of the Granton Waterfront Regeneration, Western Villages is one of the most significant residential projects of our time. It is a true testament to what can be achieved by collaborative working where, despite the impact and the societal shift that was thrust on us by the pandemic, CCG – supported by our much-valued design team and sub-contractor partners – was able to realise a practical, scalable, and affordable solution that will now significantly aid the Council's efforts to addressing the housing emergency. Western Villages not only serves as an exemplar for large-scale housing delivery in Edinburgh, but it has also set a benchmark for the future of housebuilding in Scotland, and we wish to express our deepest thanks to the Council for entrusting us with this pioneering development."