Knauf Drywall puts green jargon into context

With everyone is going 'green', Bob Stark, Marketing Communications Manager at Knauf Drywall explains what all the terms mean.

'Green' alternatives in building products give specifiers and builders additional choice in how they deliver the more environmentally friendly structures that regulations - and common sense - increasingly demand.

These new products also present great business opportunities for merchants who can help their customers make informed choices about the materials they buy.

The challenge for many people in the building industry is keeping abreast of developments in environmental knowledge - and the jargon that goes with it.

Products such as our industry-first carbon neutral plasterboard, Knauf Futurepanel, bring new terminology to the merchant's shelves.

Many of these environmental terms are heard almost every day in the media, but they are seldom explained or put into context.

Here is a selection of key terms relevant to our industry: Global warming.

Carbon dioxide gas (CO2) is emitted every time a human, animal, or bird exhales and when fuels - especially coal and oil - are burnt.

If nature were in balance, all the CO2 occurring naturally would be reabsorbed by plants.

But as we consume more and more energy, our total output of CO2 exceeds the Earth's natural capacity to reabsorb the gas and the excess accumulates in the atmosphere.

CO2 and other so-called greenhouse gases both absorb and emit radiation, with the emissions warming the planet.

The increasing levels of CO2 through mankind's activities are widely regarded as a key cause of global warming.

Energy efficiency.

Energy efficiency means using the least energy to achieve a certain goal.

Part L of the Building Regulations provides guidelines on reducing energy usage - and therefore CO2 emissions from dwellings - through increased insulation, increased airtightness and more efficient heating and lighting systems.

Part L specifically addresses the need for the structure of a building to prevent heat loss through walls, floors and roofs (reducing the demand on boilers) and places specific requirements on boiler efficiency.

Our drywall systems play an important role in the thermal efficiency of walls and ceilings.

Plasterboard, with separate insulation or bonded to solid insulation as an insulating laminate, helps to keep the warmth where it is needed.

The Knauf Thermal Laminate range provides instant energy saving for a minimum reduction in room space, making these products ideal for refurbishments and increasing the efficiency of existing stock.

Embedded energy.

The embedded energy of a building material is the amount of energy used in its extraction, manufacturing and distribution.

The manufacture of plasterboard is already very energy efficient, with each Knauf plasterboard having a low embedded energy content.

Of course, we are always exploring ways to reduce the embedded energy even further.

Our deliveries already go out on modern Mercedes Actros trucks with state of the art diesel efficiency, and we have successfully tested delivery by barge for the Olympics - with each barge transporting 14 lorry loads of plasterboard in a single trip.

Our plants are insulated and use sophisticated energy management systems, together with heat exchangers.

We are now investigating combined heat and power systems to further reduce our energy usage.

BREEAM.

The Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) has long been the standard tool in the UK for the analysis and improvement of a building's environmental performance.

Zero carbon.

Zero carbon strictly means that there are no CO2 emissions at any stage during the entire lifecycle of a product.

As such, it is a virtually impossible standard to achieve in the modern world - but we should all be moving towards the lowest practical carbon levels.

Zero carbon homes.

This is a term coined by Gordon Brown who has promised that "zero carbon homes" will be exempt from stamp duty.

The definition is that a "zero carbon home" will put as much energy back into the National Grid via renewables such as wind turbines and solar panels as it takes out.

A number of housebuilders are trying to develop such houses, and we are in the process of contacting them to talk about Futurepanel.

Carbon neutral.

To be carbon neutral, the net carbon content of a product should be zero.

Even with the most efficient manufacturing and distribution, a certain amount of energy will be used and CO2 will be released to the atmosphere.

Hence to be carbon neutral any CO2 arising during manufacture has to be neutralised - or offset - by other activities.

In other words an equal amount of CO2 has to be removed elsewhere.

Carbon offsetting.

Carbon offsetting is the process of balancing the inevitable emissions with techniques of absorbing CO2.

One commonly mentioned solution is to plant trees - which is good in principle, but unless carefully managed it can actually produce more problems than it solves.

We are making Knauf Futurepanel carbon neutral by helping developing communities switch to clean energy such as hydro-electricity as we believe this to be the most effective and responsible method of carbon offsetting.

Carbon footprint.

Your carbon footprint is the measure of how much CO2 you create in all your activities over a given time - typically a year.

So the carbon footprint of a building is a measure of all the CO2 produced in running the building.

It is usually expressed in tons per year.

At Knauf Drywall, we work with the Carbon Trust to continually find new ways to further reduce the carbon footprint of our factories.

Clean Energy.

Clean energy is energy that is produced without burning fossil fuels.

Examples include wind, hydro-electricity and, controversially, nuclear power.

We are currently applying for our own 2MW wind turbine that will provide up to 40% of the electricity needs of our Sittingbourne factory.

Green Guides.

The Green Guides from the Building Research Establishment contain lists of typical wall, roof, floor and other constructions against a simple environmental rating scale running from A(good) to C (poor).

These ratings enable specifiers to select materials and components on their overall environmental performance over the building's life.

Knauf plasterboard systems are already A-rated in both guides and we would like to see a higher category introduced for carbon neutral products such as Knauf Futurepanel.

Renewables These are energy sources that occur naturally, such as solar energy, hydro-electricity, geothermal energy, wave power, and wind power.

Thermal mass.

This refers to the mass of a material that stores heat, such as brick walling or one-coat plasters like Knauf MP75, to slow temperature variations in the space it encloses.

This reduces the amount of energy required to control the temperature in a building.

Sustainability.

Sustainability and sustainable development generally mean that today's needs are met without impacting tomorrow's world.

So building materials are sustainable if they do not deplete a natural resource.

For example, timber is sustainable provided trees that are felled are quickly replaced with new plantings.

Recycled gypsum is sustainable, because it returns plasterboard waste to the production process.

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