Construction BUSINESS

Kingspan, a global leader in high performance insulation, building fabric, and solar integrated building envelopes, has been named for the third year in a row on The Climate ‘A List’ by CDP, the international not-for-profit organisation that measures the environmental impact of thousands of companies around the world. Kingspan is one of only two Irish companies to make the list of 112 companies, which includes Unilever, Microsoft, and Toyota.

Featuring on the ‘A List’ recognises Kingspan’s actions in the last reporting year to cut emissions, mitigate climate risks and develop the low-carbon economy. In 2016 Kingspan passed the half way mark along its path to Net Zero Energy (NZE) by 2020, with renewable energy accounting for 57% of its total energy use. In the past 5 years Kingspan’s products have helped customers reduce their annual energy consumption by over 600 million megawatt hours– the equivalent to over 372 million barrels of oil.

The building sector contributes 30% of global annual greenhouse gas emissions and accounts for 40% of global energy consumption. Unless more action is taken by Governments and corporates, the United Nations Energy Programme (UNEP) predicts that greenhouse gas emissions are set to double over the next 20 years.

Thousands of companies are independently assessed against CDP’s scoring methodology in a report compiled at the request of 827 investors who represent $100 trillion of assets under management. Only 5% of the companies who submit information are awarded position on the Climate A List, in recognition of their actions to reduce emissions and mitigate climate change in the past reporting year.

Gene Murtagh, CEO of Kingspan, says: “This is our third year making the CDP A-list and I’m proud to be one of only two Irish companies to have achieved this challenging standard. Progress towards our goal of operating at Net Zero Energy by 2020 has been key to delivering our reduced environmental impact. Our achievements to date clearly demonstrate the business case behind saving energy, reducing carbon emissions and generating renewable energy on our own sites – often using our own products and solutions. The building sector contributes around 30% of global annual greenhouse gas emissions, which means it has a crucial role to play in helping countries hit the targets set in last year’s Paris Agreement.”

CDP’s chief executive officer Paul Simpson says: “Congratulations to all that made it onto the Climate A List this year. It’s inspiring to see so many taking bold action to mitigate the risks of climate change and grasp the opportunities that come with the transition to a sustainable economy. As we approach a tipping point on environmental action, business is absolutely central to making that transition happen.”

Kingspan has taken a three-pronged approach to reducing its energy foot print:

• Save more energy: Energy efficiency measures introduced by Kingspan have reduced the company’s overall lighting and heat costs by over 30% and achieved almost a four-fold decrease in carbon intensity levels. Use of Kingspan’s own products including high performance insulation, roof lighting and LEDs has played a key role in delivering these savings
• Generate more renewable energy: Kingspan’s on-site renewable energy generation has jumped from 6.6 GWh in 2012 to 32.2 GWh in 2016 through use of solar, wind and biomass technologies. On- site generation across multiple sites globally currently supplies 7.6% of the company’s total energy use, and more projects are now under construction. For example, in 2015 Ireland’s largest solar PV roof panel installation was made at Kingspan’s Portadown facility, which generates 30% of the plant’s energy needs. Kingspan has utilised its own solar panel and wind turbine technology to help improve its energy generation capabilities.
• Buy more renewable energy: Kingspan has taken steps to ensure that where renewable energy can’t be produced on-site, it is procured from fully-certified sources. In 2016 all the electricity used at manufacturing sites in North America was procured from certified renewable sources. Globally in 2016, the Group used 164.2 GWh of renewable electricity, almost a six- fold increase from 2011 (and equivalent to not burning 55m tonnes of coal).

The Climate A List and full company scores are available on CDP’s website: https://www.cdp.net/en/scores-2017

Kingspan’s insulation materials such as Kooltherm, Optim-R and Quadcore provide the most thermally efficient materials available in their respective market sectors.