Long-term environmental strategy
By Wojciech Brozyna, MD of Aluprof UK.
We have already increased the average temperature on Earth by approximately 1ºC above pre-industrial levels, and that it is on course to increase more rapidly and reach a total of 1.5ºC-2.0ºC by 2050.
Buildings and construction account for more than 35% of global final energy use and nearly 40% of energy-related CO2 emissions.
Therefore, the construction industry is a prime target for carbon reduction, but the full picture is a little more complex. First, we often have the building deconstruction phase, using energy, while hopefully recycling as much material as possible.
We then start the build phase where all materials supplied to a project site carry some form of embodied carbon, followed by the construction phase which adds even more carbon into the materials used.
Once in use, we have a building that may use further carbon fuels during its lifetime, unless it is designed to be carbon neutral in use. Clearly, buildings are designed to last a very long time reduce our carbon impact. Likewise, products that offer very high levels of insulation and quality help keep the interior environment at a comfortable level and offer a longer lifetime in use.
Aluminium fenestration has long been associated with extensive life expectancy and can offer reduced maintenance while maintaining operational efficiency with high thermal efficiency. Ideally, we could construct buildings to be carbon positive in use, where they can save more carbon in its lifetime as it costs in carbon to build?
To further enhance aluminium’s enduring life expectancy, Aluprof is a licensed applicator to the global Qualicoat standard for architectural powder coating and can offer various substantial aluminium pre-treatments and more durable classes of powder coating to meet any specification. Aluprof is also a license holder of Qualanod, a further global standard for the provision of high-quality anodising.
Together these finishes can extend the life expectancy of Aluprof’s products for future generations.
Aluprof is a Polish-based aluminium systems company with a base in the UK. In a recent statement from the Polish head office, Aluprof said: “The company is introducing a range of initiatives aimed at eliminating the impact of its operations on the environment. It has updated its detailed analysis of its products’ carbon footprint and presented its commitments in terms of sustainable development. One of its many environmental ambitions is to move towards achieving climate neutrality.”
One key to this goal is the company’s use of low-carbon aluminium. Aluprof’s modern extrusion plant uses low-carbon billet which equates to just 2.79tCO2e. In comparison, the average production of one ton of aluminium primary aluminium somewhere in the world has an emission of 16.7tCO2e – almost six times higher.
The low level of carbon emissions is achieved thanks to the efficiency of the company’s new, cutting-edge plant for manufacturing, the use of low-carbon aluminium, and the use of up to 65% of recycled aluminium content in Aluprof’s extrusion billet.
Aluprof has developed a logistics network across Europe which reduces the need to stock materials locally. The traditional approach for UK distribution of European systems would be to have product delivered to a central warehouse, then to be sent out to customers on a local delivery. While this approach may be efficient for supplying small batches of materials too many customers, Aluprof systems are sent in bulk to UK and Ireland facade companies direct from Poland, which avoids double handling.
Removing the central warehouse also saves further carbon costs in double handling, heating and equipment requirements. The delivery logistics are carefully monitored to ensure that routes are the most efficient and are undertaken at times to minimise traffic congestion further reducing vehicle emissions.
Bożena Ryszka, marketing and PR director for Aluprof, said: “Our ambition is to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and to have reduced our carbon footprint by 15% by 2025.”
To reflect these new and ambitious targets, Aluprof has unveiled new branding with a new logo to reflect their next, socially responsible, growth within the aluminium fenestration market with a new motto to ‘build a better future together’.