An eco-conscious couple have opened their second environmentally friendly luxury log cabin at the foot of the Eildon Hills for holidaymakers.
Eildon Melrose, the award-winning holiday lets in Dingleton Mains in the Borders, boasts an array of environmentally friendly features, including a biomass district heating system.
Rob Martin, who owns the company with his wife Joanna, took advantage of support from a programme funded by the Scottish Government. He said: “As a business we care about our environmental impact and try to reduce it where we can. We like to make the properties as eco-friendly as possible.”
When the couple looked at expanding their business by adding a log cabin they used locally grown sustainable Douglas fir for its construction. A ‘living’ grass roof was also installed to provide environmentally friendly insulation and help the new structure blend in to the amazing countryside.
The cabin was the winner of the European Holiday Home Awards 2021 for best green holiday home.
The first log cabin proved to be such a success that they decided to add a second, approaching Business Energy Scotland, funded by the Scottish Government, for advice on introducing an air source heat pump.
Rob said: “We care about the environment and more and more visitors are looking for places to stay with good eco credentials.”
An experienced consultant from Business Energy Scotland carried out a free assessment for Rob which showed that that using a heat pump rather than traditional heating would give him an annual saving of more than £1,200 as well as cutting the property’s carbon emissions by almost a tonne.
Rob, who moved to Scotland from Hampshire, England, 13 years ago after falling in love with the area, took advantage of the Scottish Government’s interest-free SME loan to help finance the project and also received a 75 per cent cashback grant.
“Working with Business Energy Scotland was brilliant. The support was fantastic and we couldn’t have gone ahead with the project without them.”
Douglas Harding, Business Energy Scotland programme director, said: “We were delighted to help Rob lower his energy bills and carbon footprint. The leisure and tourism sector is incredibly important for Scotland and we are happy to have helped make a difference for this business.
“The efforts of all the organisations supported by Business Energy Scotland not only helps them save energy but also helps Scotland to play its part in tackling climate change and achieve our net-zero targets.”
