Knauf Insulation becomes net zero carbon Business Champion

Knauf Insulation has been selected as a net zero ‘Business Champion’ by the Construction Leadership Council and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) for the CO₂nstructZero initiative.

The company joins a select group of merchants, major contractors, consultants, architects, engineers, manufacturers and sub-contractors committed to demonstrating leadership and promoting best practice to reduce construction carbon emissions.

Neil Hargreaves, Managing Director of Knauf Insulation Northern Europe, said: “Net zero is a colossal challenge, and to achieve it will require unprecedented collaboration. As the biggest supplier of insulation into newbuild homes in the UK, and the nation’s only manufacturer of both Glass and Rock Mineral Wool, we know we have an important role to play. Especially as the industry transitions towards much stricter ‘real performance’ standards. We look forward to working with our partners across the supply chain to create a built environment that’s fit for the future.”

Established earlier this year, CO₂nstruct Zero is the construction industry’s zero carbon change programme. Business Champions are required to share tangible evidence of the steps they are taking to respond to the net zero carbon challenge, and to commit to sharing data and learnings with the industry. Business Champions include Arcadis, Costain, JCB, Laing O’Rourke, Mace and Travis Perkins.

Neil added: “Improved insulation will be at the heart of UK construction’s efforts to decarbonise, but operational carbon is only one side of the equation. To create genuinely low-carbon buildings, we’ll need to create them using low-carbon materials. That’s why we’re taking bold action now to reduce the embodied carbon and environmental impact of our products.”

Knauf Insulation has set specific targets for 2025 as part of its recently published sustainability strategy, ‘For a Better World’. These include:

Reducing the embodied carbon of its products by 15% compared with 2019;

Investing 10% of its general capital expenditure on new sustainability projects;

Cutting its organisational carbon footprint by at least 25%;

Sending zero waste to landfill from its manufacturing plants across the group;

Reducing virgin plastic packaging by 25%;

Setting new higher minimum levels of recycled materials in products and packaging.