Raport de sustenabilitate 2019 KNAUF INSULATION
Insulation Matters
Annual Review 2019
INTRODUCTION
04 SAFETY: IT’S UP TO US
Importance of culture change
CONTENTS
32 CUSTOMER INNOVATION
Success shaped by anthropology
06 NEW NORTH AMERICA CEO
Meet Matthew Parrish
34 PIONEERING IDEAS
Innovation across our company
08 CLIMATE ACTION
Helping vulnerable villagers
36 DECADE OF SUCCESS
Celebrating ECOSE Technology®
10 BUILDING RESILIENCE
Future-proofing buildings
38 NEW MALAYSIA PLANT
Shaping our future in Asia-Pacific
12 CAMPAIGNS FOR CHANGE
Better policies worldwide
42 AWARD-WINNING PLANT
Illange is open for business
14 EFFICIENCY FIRST
Decarbonising buildings
46 CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY
Aiming high for better results
16 FUTURE OF URBAN LIFE
Tackling new challenges
52 CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
Postive impact on colleagues
20 SUSTAINABLE HABITATS
Bees love our green roofs
54 PEOPLE POWER
Our new generation of graduates
22 MADE IN MILAN
Inspired green buildings
56 WOMEN
ENGINEERS
Advice from engineering’s frontline
24 FIRE SAFETY EXPERTISE
Our focus on customers
58 NEWS
Contributing to our communities
AN OUTSTANDING YEAR
Welcome to our new annual review — a celebration of an extraordinary
chapter in Knauf Insulation’s history.
n 2019 we saw the launch of our €110 million plant at Illange in France (page 42), started the
countdown to our new site in Malaysia in 2020 (page 38) and a new President and CEO was
appointed to Knauf Insulation North America — a very warm welcome to Matthew Parrish (page 6).
Around the world we campaigned for a more sustainable urban environment (page 12), continued
developing innovations to make buildings more resilient such as Knauf Energy Solutions (page 26) or our
new Knauf Insulation Experience Centers (page 28) and helped create new homes for a remote Alaskan
community that is being forced to move as result of climate change (page 8).
Customers continue to be at the heart of everything we do. We hav
e stepped up our building fire safety
support for customers (page 24), focused on installers’ needs though our new Captain K partner program and
even introduced anthropological studies on construction sites to serve customers better (page 32).
Most significantly, we have built on our sustainability
successes and continued to reduce energy use, carbon
emissions, waste to landfill and Lost Time Accidents despite a
record-breaking year of production (page 46).
However, sustainability is a journey and we are continuously
improving, finding new ways to minimise our environmental
impact and, critically, achieve the behaviour change that results
in zero harm (page 5).
Finally, I was delighted that in 2018, Knauf Insulation was
voted the Global Insulation Company of the Year. Then, in
2019, there were three more reasons to be proud of our work
when we were presented with Global Awards for best plant;
best innovation and insulation personality of the year (page 59).
2020 has a lot to live up
to. And a lot to look forward to.
I
26 KNAUF ENERGY SOLUTIONS
Revolutionising renovation
28 EXPERIENCE CENTERS
Improving product performance
30 FEEDBACK FORUM
Customers share insight
Jean-Claude Carlin,
Group CEO, Knauf Insulation
Knauf Insulation Rock Mineral
Wool DP6 (NaturBoard Timber)
slabs were installed in Milan’s
iconic Bosco Verticale (page 22)
On the cover: Jonathan Boulanger
carries out checks of Knauf
Insulation Glass Mineral Wool
at our Visé plant in Belgium
3
SAFETY
OUR SAFETY:
IT’S UP TO US
Jean-Claude Carlin, Group CEO, Knauf Insulation, has made safety
his key priority. ‘I will not be satisfied until we achieve zero harm every
day at every site. We all have to take responsibility for our safety.’
n 2010 Knauf Insulation set
a target to reduce Lost Time
Accidents (LTA) by 50% by
2020. This has been achieved and in 2018
our LTA figure was down to 48%. The
next stage in our journey is to focus on
learning how to change — and model —
safe behavi
our, says Jean-Claude Carlin,
Group CEO, Knauf Insulation.
I
To what extent are you pleased with
the reduction in LTAs?
I’m pleased we accomplished what we
promised. But it’s not good enough.
I will not be satisfied until we achieve
zero harm every day at every site. We all
have to take responsibility for our safety.
How will this be achieved?
More than 90% of accidents are
behaviour related. It is critical that we all
speak up if we see anyone acting in an
unsafe way whether it is a friend at work
or the boss. By challenging leaders and
challenging ourselves to be better we
change our culture and put safety first.
‘WE DON’T NEED MORE RULES’
“Starting with the finding that more risks don’t always lead
to more accidents and more rules don’t drastically reduce
accident numbers, we’ve found what we need is behaviour
change,” says Philippe Coune, Group Environmental and
Western Europe Regional HSE Manager. “Working with the
French National Centre for Scientific Res
earch we have held
workshops in Knauf Insulation Western Europe to look at
the psychological aspects of decision processes that could
lead to unsafe behaviour. We learnt about influencing
positive behaviour, encouraging safer attitudes, community
engagement and ‘nudging’ behaviour change. Our aim is not
more rules, it’s people creating their own safe environment.”
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How can colleagues become better
safety role models?
Telling someone to change their
behaviour might seem like a challenge,
but it is not. It shows care. Sometimes
people don’t even know there is a better
way to do something.
Lock Out Tag Out (LOTO) at our
Illange plant. The procedure
ensures machines are properly
shut off and cannot be restarted
during maintenance or repairs
Even if there is an impact on
production?
Absolutely. Safety cannot be
compromised by a view that ‘output is
king’. We must never forget that every
CEO Jean-Claude Carlin discusses safety at our new plant in Illange
accident has an im
pact on that person’s
family, friends, community and future.
What initiatives have been introduced
to change behaviour?
Observation visits to sites by senior
management have helped sharpen our
focus on safety and our support for World
Day for Safety and Health at Work is an
opportunity to hold workshops, behaviour
sessions, first aid courses and drills, but
changing behaviour is critical. And that is
why we introduced safety time-outs and
issued Stop cards to everyone.
Why are these cards significant?
Each card states: ‘You have the
responsibility and authority to stop
unsafe actions.’ We are giving everyone
permission to keep us safe. We have
enough rules and processes. We need to
look at the way we behave and the way
we behave to others. We can do better.
We all have a role to play.
Of course. I want to come home safely
to my family. Everyone wants to come
home safely. Nothing is so important
that it cannot be done safely.
MIND SUPPORT
Knauf Insulation in the UK has signed th
e ‘Time to Change’ pledge — a social movement
to tackle the stigma surrounding mental health issues at work. Mental health training has
been delivered to all those with line management responsibility to create open ‘tea and talk’
environments to discuss mental health issues. We are also working with the mental health
charity MIND to raise funds and awareness. In 2019, MIND was one of our two corporate
charities in the UK. The other was CRASH, the construction industry charity.
5
NORTH AMERICA
Putting safety first, empowering our colleagues through
continuous improvement and ensuring we are indispensable to
customers are the top three priorities of our new President and
CEO at Knauf Insulation North America, Matthew Parrish.
atthew Parrish was appointed the President
and CEO at Knauf Insulation North America
(KINA) in 2019 following two years as our
Vice President of Residential and Light Commercial
Sales. He has been in the the construction industry for
30 years — nine
of which have been spent in insulation.
M
Why are you the right person for the job?
I’ve three decades of experience in leadership and
providing customer-centric solutions and I’m
100% committed to making Knauf Insulation the
greatest company for our employees. The company
has enjoyed great success and I want to build on this to
ensure we are the best partner for our customers.
What was your priority when you were first
appointed?
In my first 90 days I met as many of our customers
and employees as possible to understand the
opportunities for all of us. In recent years, we have
spent a lot of time focusing on our people and
operations and we are now in a position to take our
customer focus to a whole new level.
PERSONAL INSIGHT
Best advice: If you think the
grass is greener on the other
side, water your grass.
Growing up: I grew up on
a large farm in Missouri, went
to college at the University of
Missouri and then went right
into the building materials
industry and spent most of
my
career there.
What do you see as key challenges?
Our challenge is to maintain the positive gap between
us and our competitors and that means continuously
finding new ways to develop and empower our
colleagues. It’s not about one person or five, it’s about
the 1,600 people that work for Knauf Insulation North
America that will make us even more successful.
What will success look like a year after your
appointment?
First, not a single employee will have been injured.
Second, we will have exceeded all our financial and
non-financial key performance indicators. And,
finally, our customers will tell us that they cannot
imagine doing business with any other company
besides Knauf Insulation.
How will you put customers at the heart of everything
we do at KINA?
This starts by changing the mindset of being a sales
function to something everyone in the organisation
actually owns. We are starting with assembling
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a customer advocacy team of cross-functional
employees to look at all the
touchpoints with our
customers.
How do you model and improve safe behaviour?
All the technology and state-of-the-art personal
protection equipment isn’t a guarantee to keep
employees safe. It really comes down to individual
decisions and behaviours. A large part of this is
education and awareness. For example, at KINA,
we have implemented a safety observation system
that engages more employees in the process for
creating a safer environment. Ultimately we want
to see our employees transfer our safety culture to
their homes.
You speak about empowering employees. What
does this mean? And what does empowerment look
like to you?
This really speaks to one of our Values
‘Entrepreneurship’. We want our employees to own
the business.
Are there any continuous improvement initiatives
you want highlight in KINA?
We are driving continuous improvement
throughout our organisation but this isn’t limited to
manufacturing. For example, one of our focus areas
is customer-centricity and driving h
igher customer
satisfaction scores.
Are there any new initiatives that have been
implemented to improve the sustainability of KINA?
As we look for ways to reduce waste, we are recycling
fibre residue back into a secondary blowing wool
product.
Any other key areas of focus that are significant?
Another critical area of focus for KINA is driving
higher levels of employee engagement. This is being
accomplished by creating an environment that
motivates employees to be more engaged. I truly
believe companies with high levels of employee
engagement are highly successful. We have started
this journey through employee engagement surveys
and focus groups.
7
NORTH AMERICA
A NEW HOME FOR NEWTOK
Knauf Insulation North America is supporting the Cold Climate Housing
Research Center to help build new energy-efficient homes for a community of
Native Alaskan villagers that has been forced to relocate due to climate change.
long the southwestern Alaskan
coast, in the Yukon–Kuskokwim
Delta, is a
remote village called
Newtok. The 375 people there value their
traditional lifestyle of hunting, fishing and
foraging for food, and the only modes of
transport are boats, snowmobiles and allterrain vehicles. There are no roads — just
boardwalks between the school, post office
and homes. The villagers, known as the
Yu’pik, have created a strong identity based
on their self-sufficient lifestyle.
Unlike many other rural Alaskan villages,
the population of Newtok is growing. But
as the population grows, the community’s
land is rapidly disappearing. Due to severe
erosion, the Ningliq River is closing in on
the village at a rate of 22 metres a year,
causing harsh flooding and threatening
the residents’ health and safety. Erosion is
a naturally occurring process, but because
of the rapid loss of permafrost, the rate at
which it is happening in Newtok is anything
but natural.
A
8
“The story of Newtok is a
sobering reminder of the
dire need for sustainable
solutions. It’s also a
story
of hope and perseverance
that shows the power of
people who come together
for a common purpose.”
Rick Blumenthal, Technical Building
Science Specialist, Knauf Insulation
VICTIMS OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Trouble began in 1996, when extreme flooding
and sinking ground caused the Newtok River to
be taken over and diverted by the Ningliq River
and turned into a swamp. Nearly overnight,
the village became susceptible to storm surges
and erosion. Commercial boats could no longer
reach the village and waste that was dumped
into the river stopped flowing away and began
to pile up at the crumbling coastline. And, as
storm seasons grew longer and harsher, tide
levels rose and started to spread contaminated
water throughout the village.
Now the community is in the final sprint of
what has been a decades-long process to
move to a new, permanent location on
higher, more stable land: Mertarvik. All
the while, the residents have watched
their land be eroded by the water, metre
by metre. In a mat
ter of months, homes
could be lost. Time has almost run out. The
new location, Mertarvik, is 14 kilometres
upriver from Newtok on the volcanic bluffs
of Nelson Island.
TRAINING INSTALLERS
Securing funding for the project has
been a challenge. The community has
seen investments from federal and state
agencies, but they have fallen short of
the funds needed to build new homes in
Mertarvik.
However, Newtok has also had help
from non-profits such as the Cold Climate
Housing Research Center. The CCHRC
was contracted to provide the design,
“Alaska is on the edge of a cliff dealing with the climatic
wave in the north. People in Newtok are losing the
ground they walk on. This has necessitated a move
10 miles away and the building of a new village.
Partners like Knauf Insulation contributing both
material and installation expertise in an extreme
environment is deeply appreciated by all of us.”
Jack Hébert, CEO, Cold Climate Housing Research Center
verification and testing for the homes
on
Mertarvik — durable, high-performance
houses made with healthier, more
sustainable materials and systems.
The Knauf Insulation team consulted
with CCHRC to help develop a plan for
insulating the new homes in Mertarvik
and recommended using Jetstream®
Blowing Wool. The builders for
Mertarvik have in-house carpenters,
plumbers and electricians — but no
insulating staff. Knauf Insulation trained
installers and worked on-site with crews
to ensure the insulation was installed to
deliver the best performance.
The Mertarvik homes are built with
‘mono-trusses’ — self-contained,
complete gable frames that maximise
energy efficiency and shipping efficiency
to remote job sites. The roof, walls
and floors are all one piece and made
of open-web trusses, to help prevent
thermal bridging once insulated.
Construction materials are selected to be
resilient to wind, ice, snow and rain, and
to be as low maintenance as possible.
MONITORING PERFORMANCE
Knauf Insulation also sponsored the
i
nstallation of sensors in the walls of each
house to monitor temperature, moisture
and humidity for two years. The goal is
to extract comprehensive data on the
performance of our Glass Mineral Wool
system in one of the harshest climates on
the planet.
9
BUILDING RESILIENCE
FUTURE-PROOF
BUILDINGS
Climate change, CO2 emissions, extreme weather, unsustainable
energy use, over-populated urban areas, changing demographics
and a need for a healthier urban environment are among the most
pressing issues of the 21st century. Buildings have to become
more resilient and Knauf Insulation can help. Here’s how:
EMISSIONS AND ENERGY USE
Challenge: Globally buildings are responsible for 28% of CO2
emissions. Cities occupy 3% of the world’s land but account for up to
80% of energy consumption and 70% of carbon emissions. In Europe
buildings are responsible for 36% of emissions and 40% of energy
use. Only a third of the world’s final energy use is covered by energy
efficiency policies, codes
and standards.
Our solutions: We campaign around the world to put energy
efficiency at the heart of policy agendas (page 12) we
want to ensure building savings promised in theory
deliver in reality (page 26). And, of course,
we produce solutions that contribute to energy
savings and the reduction of emissions.
EXTREME WEATHER
Challenge: The five-year average global
temperature from 2013-17 was the highest
recorded; the 2017 hurricane season was
the most costly on record and the number
of floods and storms are soaring. Weather
is impacting the urban environment putting
water systems under pressure.
Our solutions: Our Urbanscape Green
Roofs save energy, absorb CO2 emissions
and air pollutants, reduce building heatisland effect and contribute to urban
water management (page 19). We are
campaigning for legislative measures
to increase the uptake of urban green
infrastructure in Europe (page 13).
HEALTH RISKS
Challenge: Nine out of 10 people breathe
polluted air; noise pollution is linke
d to
cardiovascular problems and, as we
spend 90% of our time indoors, we are
exposed to unpleasant Volatile Organic
Compounds. In addition, in the European
Union for example, 8% of people cannot
afford to heat their home when it is cold,
creating serious health risks.
Our solutions: Our products help
create healthy, comfortable buildings.
Our Urbanscape Green Roof solutions
absorb air pollutants; our Mineral Wool*
with ECOSE Technology® is certified to
the highest Eurofins Indoor Air Comfort
Gold standards; insulation supported
by ventilation keeps buildings dry and
mould-free and the fibre composition of our
insulation reduces noise pollution. And, of
course, insulation contributes to health by
providing comfortable interior temperatures
when it is hot or cold.
SAFER BUILDINGS
Challenge: As buildings get taller,
construction more sophisticated, new
building materials introduced and
renovation initiatives launched, it is vital
that fire safety is factored into every stage
of urban d
evelopment.
Our solutions: We drive campaigns
and support organisations to put building
fire safety at the heart of all policies. For
example, the revised Energy Performance
of Buildings Directive states European
Union countries can use long-term
renovation strategies to address fire safety;
we help specifiers navigate regulation and
many of our solutions are certified to the
highest A1 fire classification (see page 24).
LIMITED RESOURCES
Challenge: In Europe, used material from
buildings accounts for between 25-30% of
all waste while around 50% of all extracted
materials are used in buildings.
URBAN BOOM
Challenge: Solutions need to be found to tackle unsustainable urbanisation. In Germany, for
example, the percentage of people living in urban areas will be 84.3% by 2050. Around the
world rapid urbanisation is straining infrastructure as millions more move to towns and cities.
Our solutions: The Knauf Group has joined with construction companies and policy
makers to examine solution
s (page 12) to create a more flexible urban environment such as
manufacturing modular homes in factories and bringing them to cities.
*Mineral Wool refers to Glass Mineral Wool and Rock Mineral Wool products
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Our solutions: Our Glass Mineral Wool
with ECOSE Technology uses up to
80% of recycled material; we have a UK
facility that transforms 60,000 tonnes of
used glass into insulation every year; we
promote the recycling of Mineral Wool
from buildings being deconstructed;
support projects to reuse demolition
insulation and helped develop a wall
system that uses recycled demolition
materials. We are also working on projects
to take back delivery pallets and to pick up
and recycle customer waste (see page 51).
To learn more about future-proofing our built environment
read the latest report by the European Insulation Manufacturers
Association Better Buildings for a Better Future at eurima.org
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BUILDING RESILIENCE
CAMPAIGNING FOR CHANGE
Knauf Insulation campaigns to put energy eff
iciency, building resilience,
green infrastructure and fire safety at the heart of policies worldwide.
ITALY
NORTH AMERICA
We have campaigned for higher thermal
values during revisions of the International
Energy Conservation Code across the US.
In 2018, with our partners, we established
minimum envelope levels which were
15% more efficient than proposed changes.
New opportunities
From our public affairs bases across
Eastern Europe we are examining ways
to generate greater awareness of stronger
building energy efficiency regulation
in the United Arab Emirates, Turkey,
Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and
Hungary. The low-level of codes in these
countries offers huge potential. Ambitious
regulation to improve U-values and the
pace of renovation would generate huge
cost savings, provide enormous social
and economic benefits as well as boost
the contribution these countries make to
curbing emissions.
12
UK
The Government has committed to
net zero by 2050 with a reduction in
emission
s in new homes playing a lead
role in that ambition as part of a proposed
Future Homes Standard 2025. We are
campaigning for a ‘real performance’
element to be central to the proposed
standard with a focus on ‘learning’ how
to build to real performance targets for
housebuilders in the interim.
FRANCE
We are supporting France’s plans to make
500,000 homes energy efficient annually
to tackle fuel poverty and the national
vow to bring all buildings up to
low-energy class A-B. Our new Rock
Mineral Wool plant in Illange and our
Glass Mineral Wool site in Lannemezan,
as well as Visé in Belgium, will provide a
range of high-performance solutions.
SPAIN
GERMANY
The Knauf Group is working with
partners to find solutions to unsustainable
urbanisation, high house prices and a lack
of affordable housing such as adding
1.1 million new lightweight apartments
to the top of 580,000 city buildings or
providing modular affordable homes built
off-site and located in designated areas.
We are
campaigning to increase proposed
annual renovation rates from 100,000 to
more than 250,000 buildings in Spain’s
Climate Change and Energy draft law and
working with policy makers to improve air
quality in Andalusian schools. Our General
Manager Oscar Del Rio is President of
the Iberian Mineral Wool Manufacturers
Association which in 2019 marked its
40th anniversary with initiatives
highlighting the importance of insulation.
We are working to put highly insulated
buildings at the top of policy agendas
and take a proactive role in energy
efficient building campaigns. Our
research with Polytechnic of Milan
explored how highly efficient buildings
can balance peak energy demand,
support the full integration of renewables
and pave the way towards smart
decarbonised cities.
SLOVENIA
Knauf Insulation with representatives from
South East Europe signed the ‘Ljubljana
Declaration’ calling for policies to upscale
energy efficient building renovation in
the region at an event organised by
the European Alliance of Companies
for Energy Efficiency in Buildings at our
Experience Center in Škofja Loka.
EUROPEAN UNION
The revised Environmental Performance of
Buildings Directive (EPBD) mandates that
Member States must create renovation
strategies to decarbonise their building
stock. With partner associations we
are helping policy makers make these
strategies a reality through action plans and
strategic guides.
AUSTRALIA
Germany and Australia have set up a
new energy efficiency sub-group to drive
bilateral collaboration on energy efficiency
policy. Our Director Public Affairs AsiaPacific, Christoph Freiherr von Spesshardt,
will chair this group in his role as a vicechairman of the German Energy Efficiency
association (DENEFF). CEO of Australian
sister organisation, EEC, Luke Menzel, will
represent Australia as chair. Both will work
with the Australian Alliance for Energy
Productivity, the Energy Transition Hub and
German-Australian Chamber of Industry and
Commerce, to define
an energy efficiency
workplan across building, industry and
finance sectors.
NEW ZEALAND
We are supporting new laws mandating
ceiling and under-floor insulation in the
country's estimated 600,000 rental
properties, as well as backing a
NZ$142 million government investment
to improve the insulation and heating of
52,000 low-income owner-occupier homes.
Tackling emissions with green cities
With the World Green Infrastructure Network (WGIN) we are campaigning for
ambitious green infrastructure initiatives and regulations in the European Union and
beyond. Green infrastructures and natural based solutions can address major issues
such as water management in urban areas, climate change, air pollution and lack of
biodiversity. The European Union’s long-term emissions reduction vision listed green
infrastructure as “one of the overriding priorities guiding the transition to a climate change
neutral Europe”. “Green infrastructure can deliver adaptation benefits and absorb
emissions a
nd pollution,” says the European Commission.
13
SUSTAINABLE BUILDING
KNAUF INSULATION’S
CERTIFIED BUILDINGS
LEADERSHIP RECOGNITION
Knauf Insulation was awarded
the Greenbuild Leadership
Award by the US Green
Building Council in 2019.
Mahesh Ramanujam, President
and CEO of USGBC and
Green Business Certification,
Inc (GBCI), pictured left,
said: “Knauf Insulation’s
commitment to improving the
quality of life is an inspiration.
This award recognises your
outstanding contributions to
positively affect the lives of
people today and tomorrow.”
Receiving the award, centre,
is Vincent Briard, Knauf
Insulation’s Director of
Sustainability
“We understand the need to tackle embodied
carbon emissions. However, we must first focus on
energy performance and that means creating a
more resilient building envelope.”
Vincent Briard, Knauf Insulation’s Director of Sustainability
Our plant offices in Illange, France,
are undergoing certification by HQE, the
French Green Building R
ating Scheme as
well as OsmoZ which places emphasis on
the health of building users.
In Malaysia, our Johor Bahru plant
aims to obtain the Malaysia Green Building
Index (GBI) certification, and our Shelbyville
headquarters in the US is certified LEED Gold.
The Knauf Insulation Experience
Center at Škofja Loka in Slovenia
has been awarded Platinum DGNB
certification, is contributing research to the
European Commission’s Level(s) assessment
initiative and has been certified by the
green scheme Active House.
In other buildings where we are based,
our Brussels offices in Belgium are
certified to BREEAM Very Good, our
offices in Sweden are certified to LEED
Gold while our Prague office is certified
LEED-EBOM.
EUROPEAN FIRST
EFFICIENCY FIRST
uildings are responsible for 39%
of CO2 emissions globally and
the sustainable building debate
has put the issue of embodied carbon
— carbon emissions associated with
materials and construction processes
throughout the whole lifecycle — in
the s
potlight.
Vincent Briard, Knauf Insulation’s
Director of Sustainability, says: “In
a building constructed in 2010, for
example, operational carbon (emissions
from heating and cooling) would account
for 75% while embodied carbon from
construction and materials accounts for
25%. We understand the need to tackle
embodied carbon emissions. However,
we must — first and foremost — focus
on energy performance and that means
creating a more resilient building
envelope.
B
14
Energy efficiency must always take first
place in the race to decarbonise buildings.
“Installing insulation, double glazing and
a more efficient boiler adds embodied
carbon to a building. Over the course of
their lifetime, and depending on their
application and location, the impact of
these elements on reducing emissions
will be many hundreds of times higher
than the embodied carbon generated
during their creation.
OUR SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION
Knauf Insulation has an in-depth
understanding of embodied carbon and
has always made it a key priority. Most
of our products come with Life Cycle
Assessments and Environmental Product
Declarations which transparently
identify their environmental impact
from the cradle to the grave. And, of
course, we are also looking at ways to be
more sustainable in our own production
processes. Since 2010 we have reduced
our CO2 emissions by over 20% across
the company and we are reducing the
environmental impact of our products.
We already produce a wide range of
solutions with low embodied carbon
such as our Glass Mineral Wool with
ECOSE Technology® which is created
from up to 80% recycled glass. And our
commitment to progressively move to
ECOSE Technology for our Rock Mineral
Wool ranges will lower the environmental
impact of these products as well.
However, as a starting point, we have
always called for an energy efficiency first
approach to buildings while working with
European policy makers in the context
of the European Union’s vision of a 2050
carbon neut
ral built environment and Paris
Climate commitments underpinned by
revised building directives.
‘NEED TO GET THE SEQUENCE RIGHT’
In 2019, the World Green Building Council
published a position paper that called
for all new buildings, infrastructure
and renovations to have at least 40%
less embodied carbon and be net zero
operational carbon, by 2030.
And by 2050, new buildings,
infrastructure and renovations are to be net
zero embodied carbon, and all buildings,
including existing buildings, must be net
zero operational carbon.
“Knauf Insulation supports this
ambitious plan, but we absolutely need
to get the sequence right,” says Vincent.
“First, we must tackle the biggest carbon
source which is operational energy. This
means reducing demand through high
performing building envelopes, selecting
the right set of equipment and control
systems, then using renewable energy.
“At the same time, through an iterative
process, we should consider embodied
carbon already in the design
ral built environment and Paris
Climate commitments underpinned by
revised building directives.
‘NEED TO GET THE SEQUENCE RIGHT’
In 2019, the World Green Building Council
published a position paper that called
for all new buildings, infrastructure
and renovations to have at least 40%
less embodied carbon and be net zero
operational carbon, by 2030.
And by 2050, new buildings,
infrastructure and renovations are to be net
zero embodied carbon, and all buildings,
including existing buildings, must be net
zero operational carbon.
“Knauf Insulation supports this
ambitious plan, but we absolutely need
to get the sequence right,” says Vincent.
“First, we must tackle the biggest carbon
source which is operational energy. This
means reducing demand through high
performing building envelopes, selecting
the right set of equipment and control
systems, then using renewable energy.
“At the same time, through an iterative
process, we should consider embodied
carbon already in the design
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Certificare produs 6 p | EN
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