Product category:
Drainage Services
News Release from: Hepworth Building Products | Subject: Sustainability
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 27 July 2005
Sustainability not just about product
performance
Minimising the impact of raw material transport and hence associated CO2 emissions.
Whilst it is common to think of construction system sustainability in terms of longevity of performance, environmental 'safety' in situ and ability to be recycled, this represents only a small part of the equation Less immediately apparent factors can play a key role in determining the true extent of any product's green credentials
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 3 Feb 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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Says Paul Wydell of Hepworth Drainage: "There is growing awareness of the wider picture and construction specifiers are now regularly asking about such issues as energy input in manufacture, raw material transport requirements, and CO2 emissions".
"These tend to favour the use of local materials, since transport miles add significantly to the environmental load associated with a product".
Such issues are among the factors which have made a positive contribution to the renewed appeal of clay drainage systems.
These use less energy in production than many alternatives and benefit from raw material extraction which is within a few miles (or less) of the manufacturing facility.
Hepworth's principal clay pipe production plant is at Hazlehead, near Sheffield.
The location, which is the highest manufacturing site anywhere in Europe, was developed because it sits at the heart of some of the country's best clay bearing land.
Clay from different quarries is specially blended to achieve the precise mix needed to produce high performance pipes.
Explains Paul Wydell: "The furthest clay deposit currently being worked is just a few miles from the plant, minimising the impact of raw material transport and hence associated CO2 emissions".
As recently as five years ago such claims would have had little impact on specification decision making.
However, the work of various environmental lobbies and fears of global warming have brought the effect of CO2 emissions very much into the public conscience.
Organisations which do not, or cannot, reduce their transport impacts and which fail to comply with key environmental standards such as IS14001 may well find their product sales suffer in the future - irrespective of their actual performance.
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