The assets of RTC Timber Systems, which constructed Scotland’s first Passivhaus, were sold off yesterday at auction after the company fell victim to financial difficulties.

A large collection of equipment and materials, including timber, plywood and truss frames went under the hammer at the Elgin-based company under the orders of adminisrators from French Duncan LLP.

Administrators told TTJ they could not comment yet on the specifics of RTC’s failure.

RTC developed its own PassiveWall closed panel timber frame system utilising I-beams made in Scotland by James Jones & Sons.

RTC manufactured 10 houses in a waterside development at Dunoon, western Scotland in 2009, one of which was officially certified as Scotland’s first Passivhaus and possibly the first social affordable Passivhaus in the UK.

The house was designed by Gokay Deveci, a professor at the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture in Aberdeeen and a long-standing advocate of zero carbon standards and passive house technology.

A further RTC Passivhaus project in Abderdeenshire was completed using the PassiveWall system, which was designed to achieve a high level of sustainability, with all component parts source and/or manufactured in Scotland.

RTC also supplied five houses with its PassiveWall for Scotland’s Housing Expo in 2010, with three terraced houses by HLM Architects being to full Passivhaus standards.

PassiveWall, which was highly commended in the self-build product innovation awards run by Homebuilding & Renovating magazine, exhibited at Ecobuild this year and had been due to participate in Timber Expo in September.