Adam Schreiber says we should listen to our customers’ environmental and wellbeing needs so we, as a whole industry, can achieve net zero together.
EVERY project brief now includes a request for some kind of environmental information to help customers know they’re procuring products or services in a way that helps their own business get closer to net zero.
With the built environment accounting for nearly 40% of the UK’s annual carbon footprint, businesses in our sector must do all they can help reach government’s target of net zero emissions by 2050. As part of the Saint-Gobain group, Saint-Gobain Weber has pledged to reach net-zero by 2050 with a commitment to reduce its carbon emissions by 20% by 2025.
The UK is currently the ninth largest manufacturing nation in the world, and according to the Office of National Statistics, UK manufacturers had combined product sales of £358.7bn in 2020. Even though this figure was down 10% compared with pre-pandemic figures, the amount of energy needed to achieve that volume of manufacturing will undoubtedly have had an impact on the environment in one way or another.
Efficiency through transport
The construction industry has identified its own set of priorities through the Construction Leadership Council’s (CLC) CO2nstructZero, a zero-carbon change programme created to help the sector adopt better ways of working. One of the areas identified is transport, with the first priority listed as ‘accelerating the shift of the construction workforce to zero emission vehicles and onsite plant’.
Weber is in the process of moving many fossil fuel aspects of our operations over to electricity, for example using electric forklift trucks in our manufacturing facilities and ensuring staff have fully electric or hybrid company cars and access to electric charging available at all sites.
Sourcing products from local suppliers is one way we can all make a difference to transport emissions straightaway. Specifiers are encouraged to choose products manufactured here in the UK and get them delivered from depots near their sites if possible. The added benefit of buying local is that with risks relating to volatility in supply chains – caused by the Ukraine crisis, Brexit, the backlog from the pandemic and other world events – are significantly reduced.
As a UK-based manufacturer, Weber already sources 84% of the raw materials used in its products from here in the UK (84% by volume of raw materials and packaging are supplied by UK companies).
Another way we can help reduce transport emissions is by developing products robust enough to reduce the amount of material needed. Take a typical floor, compared to traditional sand and cement screed, a pre-bagged screed would require typically two-thirds less material. Where traditional methods might need a minimum thickness of 65mm when used on a floating floor; that’s 40mm more than, for example, weberfloor fibre rapid 4320 which requires only a minimum of 25mm.
Furthermore, using pre-bagged products and therefore less material can allow you to increase the amount of insulation that can be fitted to boost the thermal efficiency of a building. A 25mm depth of prebagged screed, compared with 65mm of sand and cement, can allow for an increase of 40mm of insulation and therefore improving the U-value of the floor.
We all know timesaving on any project reduces cost, but it can also lower traffic emissions.
Specifying products that are easier to apply and dry quicker can make a big contribution to achieving net zero. A team can pump 25mm of weberfloor screeds over a space the size of three tennis courts in just one day. Coverage of such a large area in a shorter time frame can result in fewer traffic movements for the site team over the course of a project. These, what seem to be, small changes will make a big difference over time.
Repair and reuse
Depending on the level of damage or wear, we advise on reuse rather than replace. Our teams are continually developing products that make repairs more cost effective and minimise environmental impacts. Weber has a range of subfloor repair products, as well as self-levelling compounds that require just 3-5mm depth of material and can help restore a floor to ‘as new’ condition.
On a recent project we were involved with, an asphalt sports court needed replacing. Traditionally, the asphalt would have been removed but breaking out and transporting waste from an area that size would have been labour intensive and led to additional vehicle movements. Our solution was to cover the existing court with a polythene membrane then apply a flooring system to create a new surface, addressing the problem and reducing waste.
Circular economy
Developing products that contain recycled ingredients is very likely to be a growth area for our industry, as are efficiencies in packaging.
We’re targeting a 16% reduction of embedded carbon in all our products by 2030 and increasing our use of recycled materials by 30%. We’re also working on methods to replace materials made from fossil sources with bio-based materials where possible.
In recent years we’ve been helping developers in the house building sector by improving the sustainability credentials of our tiling products and have started to include use of recycled materials in products. Our weberjoint premium wall and floor tile grout now contains 68% recycled materials.
Another example is weberfloor 4955 dB mat for sound reduction on floors. This product has been developed to have tubeless packaging and is made of recycled glass.
To complete the circle, following their useful life, many of our products can be ground up to create aggregate.
Developments in manufacturing
All manufacturers have a responsibility to examine their manufacturing processes. To make further efficiencies, our plants are investing in dosing accuracy to improve material yield and our plant in Telford has improved its yield loss by 75% in three years.
We’re continuing to look at improvements that can be made across all parts of the business and our consumption of fuel. Our electricity is carbon free from renewable-only sources, and we’re reducing our overall electricity consumption by improving the efficiencies of our processes and replacing high energy equipment. We’ve also upgraded the fabric of our factories and offices. In the past five years, our site in Flitwick has reduced electricity consumption by 20% and in Telford by 17%.
Health and wellbeing
Wellness is another important factor in our campaign to improve our impacts. Weber’s flooring products have a Low Dust Technology formulation to significantly reduce airborne particles created during the pouring and mixing process. This makes for a more pleasant environment for applicators and site workers so they can work in a cleaner and more comfortable space, and with less post-application cleaning up, waste will be reduced.
Another initiative has been the removal of Portland cement from our weberfloor products to make them more comfortable and safer to use. Each time we can remove a hazard sign from our packaging, we know we are moving in the right direction weberfloor screeds and levelling compounds no longer need to display any hazard warning symbols.
It will be interesting to see how the industry will design out carbon from products and processes. Manufacturers will need to lead by example but also keep a close eye on the way the industry evolves. We should listen to our customers’ environmental and wellbeing needs so we, as a whole industry, can achieve net zero together.
www.uk.weber
Adam Schreiber is product marketing manager at Saint-Gobain Weber
