SUSTAINABLE house-building technology with the potential to solve global housing crises has been added to a highly regarded framework for disruptors in the Scottish construction sector.
VASO by Eco – an industrialised construction company that manufactures structural composite panels made from recycled‑glass – has already attracted global attention for its world‑first approach to low‑carbon construction.
Now it has been selected as just one of 27 organisations to be appointed to the Social Housing Emerging Disruptors (SHED) 5 Framework, a highly regarded national procurement route designed to accelerate the adoption of breakthrough technologies.
Eddie Black, Managing Director of VASO by Eco, said the framework acts as a powerful validator for new systems seeking to establish credibility.
He added: “SHED 5 gives procurement teams and architects the confidence they need to adopt new construction systems.
“It gets VASO by Eco in front of the right decision‑makers; the people who influence specifications and shape housing strategy.
“This inclusion is a significant milestone and opens the door to new conversations with councils, social landlords and sector leaders across Scotland.”
SHED 5 has quickly become one of the most respected platforms for construction and housing innovation, particularly within the built‑environment sector.
Its purpose is to remove the entrenched barriers that have historically restricted new technologies from entering mainstream procurement, such as rigid, specification‑led tendering, insufficient technical reference points, and risk‑averse procurement structures.
The framework enables housing providers, councils and Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) to explore emerging solutions with far greater speed and confidence than traditional procurement allows.
VASO by Eco – which sits within the framework’s energy efficiency, decarbonisation and sustainability category – was selected for the framework by PfH Scotland, a procurement services provider dedicated to the Scottish social housing sector.
Its recycled‑glass composite panels, engineered to deliver exceptional thermal performance and durability, allow homes to be built rapidly and at scale while significantly reducing embodied carbon.
This positions VASO as a direct response to the sector’s urgent need for cleaner, faster and more resilient building methodologies.
The recognition also marks an inflection point in the wider construction landscape. Contract activity through the SHED framework quadrupled in 2025, underscoring the industry’s growing appetite for solutions that can support net‑zero objectives, improve safety, accelerate delivery and offer value that traditional materials and methods cannot.
The appointment adds to a period of significant momentum for VASO by Eco. Eco has invested in a new 60,000‑square‑foot manufacturing facility that will create up to 70 jobs and expand production capacity for VASO’s glass‑composite panel system.
The innovation is also being explored for community‑led housing projects in the South of Scotland and forms part of wider collaborations with universities, architects and housing bodies aimed at enabling Scotland to scale industrialised construction at speed.
Eddie said: “Being appointed to SHED 5 sends a clear signal that the UK is ready to embrace new ways of building.
“VASO was created to tackle the biggest challenges facing housing today – speed, sustainability and affordability – and this framework gives partners across the country a trusted route to deploy those solutions at scale.”
