Kingspan’s Energi Centre, Holywell, North Wales
Our ambition
Kingspan recognises the importance of conducting its business in a socially responsible manner. This is demonstrated in the way we deal with our employees, customers and the wider community where we operate. Kingspan considers that corporate social responsibility is an integral element of good business management.
To this end, Kingspan has adopted a sustainability policy which is being implemented across the Group. The ambition is for Kingspan:
“To be a global leader in sustainable business and establish a leading position in providing ethical, renewable and affordable best practice solutions for the construction sector.”
Striving for sustainability in all our business products and operations is our corporate and personal responsibility. Kingspan aims to adopt and apply best practice sustainability principles by ensuring environmental, social and economic parameters are considered in an integrated way in product and service delivery.
To deliver on this vision Kingspan will:
- incorporate the ethos of sustainability into the vision and values of the organisation;
- continue to invest in research and development in the area of maximising insulation values in products, and the integration of renewable energy products into the Kingspan solution;
- continually improve operational performance through the setting of long-term objectives and targets related to sustainability and review progress regularly;
- comply or exceed applicable legal and policy requirements related to the environmental and social aspects of the organisation;
- optimise energy and raw material usage and prevent or minimise pollution and environmental damage;
- develop a framework to continually monitor sustainability performance and actively communicate progress annually in the form of a published sustainability report, using the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines;
- communicate and actively promote awareness and acceptance of this policy to everyone working for or on behalf of Kingspan (including employees, shareholders, suppliers / sub-contactors and customers);
- ensure employees are given adequate training in sustainability issues and are fully involved in helping deliver the Kingspan Group Sustainability Vision Policy; and
- implement a Code of Conduct and supporting sustainability guidelines for key suppliers and contractors and other interested parties to ensure they comply with the Kingspan Group Sustainability Policy.
Full details of Kingspan’s Corporate Social Responsibility activities can be found on our website at www.kingspan.com.
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Energy/carbon reductions
Since 2005 almost 250 million tonnes a year of CO2 were emitted as a result of energy use in UK buildings, and globally residential, commercial and industrial buildings are responsible for 40% of total carbon emissions. Much of the building stock has been in existence for many years and in order to reduce the overall energy demand arising from the built environment it is essential that energy efficiency is addressed not just in new build, but also in the refurbishment of existing buildings.
Kingspan’s sustainable Energi Centre in Holywell is a show piece of energy efficiency. It is constructed primarily with products from the Kingspan range, demonstrating key elements of Kingspan’s “Insulate and Generate” theme, including:
- Insulated Panels - on the roof and walls, providing maximum insulation and air-tightness in a completely fibre free environment without any degradation of the insulation effectiveness during the life of the building;
- Solar Heating System – Thermomax vacuum tubes from Kingspan Renewables are mounted on the roof. The solar generated heat is transferred via a heat exchanger coil into the buildings hot water system, which is used to heat the gas fired hot water generator. This ensures that hot water is available at all times at the lowest cost and minimum carbon emissions;
- Rainwater Recovery Technology - from Kingspan’s Environmental range. A 10,000 litre underground tank collects rainwater from the Kingspan roof drainage system. The tank incorporates a low energy pump to raise the collected water to a water storage tank from where it is distributed for use in the building;
- Solar Photovoltaic Panels - ten Kingspan powerpanels, comprising building integrated insulated photovoltaic panels with peak out put of 210 watts, have been installed on the Kingspan roof and are connected to the national grid;
- Access Floors - from Kingspan Access Floors have been installed throughout the building. These floors facilitate underfloor air conditioning which is significantly cheaper to run and creates a healthier environment than overhead systems as well as facilitating the cable management for the whole building;
- Kooltherm® - pipe and ducting insulation from Kingspan Insulation was used throughout. This provides totally fibre free insulation to the pipework and ducting to create a healthy environment for staff and of course the insulation will be effective for the life of the building.
Through the development of the Zero Carbon home (the technology in which can equally be applied in commercial buildings), which in itself already meets the 2016 zero net carbon target outlined in the UK’s Code for Sustainable Homes, Kingspan demonstrated the innovation that it can deliver to investors and building occupiers who are increasingly demanding higher renewable content in their building fabric. The spirit of the UK code is being replicated through industry initiatives and legislative frameworks around the globe as the importance of the climate challenge gains momentum, and with this will come much higher insulation standards, rainwater recovery, use of renewables such as solar hot water and power generation, all products currently in the Kingspan suite.
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Performance & measurement
Kingspan has for many years promoted and sponsored CSR reporting across all its business divisions.
Kingspan Insulation has been producing full sustainability reports since 2004. The process of assessment by accredited third parties began in 2003, when Kingspan Insulation was the first insulation manufacturer to complete an independently certified Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) on one of its products. However, the company was quick to recognise that, valuable though the LCA process was in assessing the environmental impact of the product, it was only one aspect of the whole issue of sustainability. Kingspan Insulation determined to put sustainability at the heart of its operations and so commissioned a full assessment of its performance using the Sustainable Project Appraisal Routine (SPeAR®) developed by Ove Arup & Partners Ltd. For the last five years SPeAR® has been central to how the company assesses and forms its sustainability action plan. The whole spectrum of its manufacturing activities was examined for economic, social, environmental and natural resource impact and an action plan for improvement agreed. The exercise has been repeated on an annual basis since, to assess progress and continue the sustainable development of the business.
The annual SPeAR® appraisal continues to be undertaken, whilst the latest report (2008) has been enhanced by the use of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines to ensure a robust reporting procedure. The GRI guidelines provide a globally recognised framework for reporting on an organisation’s economic, social and environmental performance. The report achieves a Level B in accordance with GRI reporting requirements. The Insulation businesses covered by this GRI report accounted for approximately 10% of Group turnover last year.
Kingspan Insulated Panels division has been producing sustainability reports using the GRI guidelines since 2006. The latest report (2008) has achieved a Level C standard, and its scope has been expanded from the initial UK & Ireland sites, to include all its manufacturing and sales offices in Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The businesses covered by this report accounted for approximately 30% of the Group turnover in 2009. Last year Kingspan Insulated Panels achieved 1st place for Wales for the second year running, and 21st place overall, in the Sunday Times Green List.
These are the first reports in an annual sustainability reporting cycle which we hope will demonstrate performance improvements across the Group. The scope of these GRI reports will be expanded progressively throughout Kingspan’s other divisions in over the coming years.
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Sustainable product stewardship
The Building Research Establishment (BRE) has developed an environmental assessment tool (BREEAM) which helps construction professionals calculate the environmental impacts of their building developments. Greater importance will be given to energy, transport, material and waste in the weighting system with the aim of making it more difficult to achieve the points needed to achieve BREEAM Excellent and the new BREEAM Outstanding. The BRE environmental profiling methodology, which is ISO 14041 compliant, was originally developed to enable robust and reliable comparison between different construction systems. “A” rated products gain additional credits for buildings assessed by environmental assessment methodologies such as BREEAM. To date certified environmental profiles have been awarded to many of Kingspan’s key Insulated Panel and Insulation Board products, and work is ongoing to extend certification to all key products. Such a rating will enable customers of Kingspan to compare the environmental impact of Kingspan’s products with alternatives, and it will allow Kingspan to identify areas of potential improvement.
Kingspan Insulated Panels has adopted the BRE’s Environmental Profiles Assessment Methodology to quantify the environmental impact of its Insulated Panels. To this end the BRE analysed data across a range of environmental issues, from cradle (inception and raw materials) to grave (disposal) of some of Kingspan Insulated Panels’ key products. This is known as lifecycle assessment (LCA) and is becoming increasingly important given the pressures being placed upon the global environment. Kingspan’s is delighted that its architectural wall panel and trapezoidal roof and wall product range have all been reassessed under the new BRE Green Guide to Specification and achieved ‘A+’ ratings.
Kingspan Insulation obtained a BRE certified Life Cycle Assessment for its Therma™ range of products in 2002. Annual improvements and assessments have been undertaken for Therma™ since then, with the range now achieving an ‘A’ rating in the BRE Green Guide to Specification. A certified Life Cycle Assessment is now also in preparation for the Kooltherm® range according to the criteria of the new BRE Green Guide to Specification which it is hoped to achieve in 2010.
In 2008, Kingspan Insulation commenced work towards certification against the BRE Environmental and Sustainability Standard (BES) 6001: Framework Standard for Responsible Sourcing of Construction Products. The company began to engage with key first tier materials suppliers to raise awareness of sustainability issues down the supply chain and to encourage high standards of environmental, quality, and health and safety performance.
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Commercial Cradle to Grave Diagrams
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Managing waste
Kingspan is committed to the principles of the waste hierarchy: avoid, reduce, re-use, recycle, and dispose responsibly. Kingspan’s Environmental Purchasing Policy ensures that the focus remains on waste elimination, but where the scope for improvement remains limited, waste will be disposed of by the most environmentally sustainable means. The company aims to ensure that the Best Practical Environmental Option (BPEO) is applied to all waste streams. The purchasing department actively pursues the most appropriate materials and technologies which reduce overall waste and the company’s environmental impact. We currently recycle steel, paper, cardboard, wood and plastic at all Kingspan manufacturing sites.
As part of our ISO 14001 management system, Kingspan is also committed to reducing the levels of waste generated by products when they reach construction sites, and ultimately to providing an end-of-life solution for the disposal of all non-reusable products. Certain facilities in the Group now offer a full pallet return service and we have also launched trials on recycling all Kingspan Insulated Panels’ packaging from construction sites. In current production, waste PIR is now being recycled back into the manufacturing process at our Insulated Panel site in Ireland, and in the case of Insulation Boards, off-cuts from waste are used in substitution for pallets.
In recognition of the environmental impacts associated with the chemicals industry, Kingspan Insulation’s Environmental Purchasing Policy and Resource Use Policy state that every effort will be made to replace all or part of the base chemical inputs with materials derived from waste streams from other chemical or production processes, by utilising other recyclable waste, or from sources with an otherwise lower environmental impact. The company is continually looking for opportunities to utilise re-used or recycled materials in the production process, where they will not compromise product quality. All polyols used are made from recycled industrial waste stream, 23% of the steel Kingspan uses is from a recycled source, and the timber used in the off-site business is all sourced from sustainable managed forests.
Kingspan also recognises the necessity to minimise consumption of water resources on-site, particularly from municipal supplies. The company aims to act responsibly and comply with all relevant legislation in conserving water, managing water supplies to site, and monitoring water that escapes from site in diffuse form and from point sources. Kingspan aspires to best practice water management and aims for continual improvement in water use.
Insulated Panels
Total weight of waste in tonnes (landfill) 
| Insulation Boards
Percentage of waste recycled, downcycled or reused 
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| An ambitious waste to landfill reduction target of 20.0% was set for 2008. Kingspan did achieve this target with an overall reduction of waste to landfill of 20.0%. An ambitious target of a 20.0% reduction has again been set for 2009. | The decrease in % of waste downcycled is a reflection of a downturn in the market for the products into which insulation waste it is processed. |
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Employee safety and skills
Kingspan values its staff and strives to provide excellent working conditions and career development prospects for all employees. Annual investments are made in staff training and development to ensure individuals’ continual learning and diversification of skills. Kingspan recognises its influence in local employment markets and seeks to bolster the economic welfare of surrounding communities through the recruitment of local people.
Kingspan has a strong reputation for health and safety in the workplace and takes seriously its responsibility for staff welfare.
In the UK, reviews carried out as part of the Investor in People framework have noted the company’s approach to occupational health and wellbeing as a particular strength, and investments continue to be made to ensure these high standards are maintained. Provision of a high quality working environment is viewed as fundamental to maintaining healthy and motivated staff, and to retaining staff for the long-term.
OHSAS 18001, in conjunction with increased resources applied to the management of health and safety, has helped to deliver significant improvement in performance. Since 2006 Kingspan Insulated Panels has achieved OHSAS 18001 at all of its UK, Ireland and Western Europe manufacturing sites, and Kingspan Insulation is working towards achieving OHSAS 18001 at its new Selby site, and has already achieved it on its other sites since 2005. Kingspan Insulated Panels recently won the ROSPA Gold Award for Safety for the second year running, recognising its well developed occupational health and safety management systems and culture, outstanding control of risk and very low levels of error, harm and loss.
Insulated Panels
Accident rate (per 1000 hours worked) 
| Insulated Panels
Days lost due to accidents 
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Insulation Boards
Accident rate (per 1000 hours worked) 
| Insulation Boards
Days lost due to accidents 
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Social & community responsibility
Kingspan acknowledges the importance of fostering strong relationships with the communities in which it operates, and takes a proactive approach to be a responsible neighbour to local groups.
The Kingspan Insulation Community Trust was established in 2006 as a registered charity, through which the company donates to community initiatives in Shobdon, Pembridge and Kingsland, Herefordshire. To date, almost £75,000 has been awarded for projects supporting conservation and biodiversity, health and fitness of young people, or promotion of road safety in the local community. Further details on this Trust can be found on its website.
www.kingspaninsulationcommunitytrust.org
Kingspan is also proud to support the work of the Irish Hospice Foundation, by sponsoring its fundraising Dublin to Paris/Paris to Geneva cycle challenges. The Irish Hospice Foundation is a fantastic organisation which supports the development of hospice care and promotes the hospice philosophy in Ireland. More information on its good work can be found at its website.
www.hospice-foundation.ie