CIF corporate partner company AG has reinforced its position as a leader in sustainable construction by switching to bio LPG energy resulting in a carbon saving of 70 per cent – equal to a person driving around the world three times.
The Fivemiletown headquartered Paving and Building Products firm, which also has manufacturing locations in Dungannon, Toome, Ballygawley and Carryduff, is committed to reducing the environmental impact of its operations to an absolute minimum.
The business switched to bio-LPG from the industry-standard LPG leading to the huge carbon saving. The move was led by CEO Stephen Acheson with support from the firm’s net zero carbon team as part of an energy strategy developed with a commitment to producing low carbon products.
The family-run firm, which employs over 200 people and also has bases in Dublin and Birmingham, plans to change to 100 per cent renewable energy and is striving to have a full hybrid/electric fleet by 2025.
Ivor Malone – Group HSEQ Co-Ordinator using the new facilities at the HSEQ centre at AG Head office in Fivemiletown
“We define sustainability as an intrinsic balance between the social and economic aspects of our business,” said Rodney Davidson, Commercial Director at AG.
“We have already made significant steps towards this goal including the introduction of a curing system for our concrete products, which has significantly reduced energy consumption and water requirement on site. Added to this, the commissioning of our state-of-the-art aggregate washing plant reduces the huge energy requirement necessary for producing primary aggregate.”
Group CEO, Stephen Acheson added: “We have adopted a long-term corporate philosophy that focuses on the wider message of lasting sustainable reductions in energy and water requirements.
“Every facility has a designated ‘Energy Champion’ whose job it is to check for any wastage of energy or water.”
Earlier this year, AG created a state-of-the-art facility at its Fivemiletown HQ. It’s new Health, Safety, Environment and Quality (HSEQ) testing, training and innovation centre incorporates a development facility for the design and testing of prototype products and final proofing of concepts.
As part of this journey, AG has partnered with Queens University Belfast through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) programmes – combining academia and industry. This partnership is associated with an ongoing sustainability strategy to drive improvements in product quality and focus on reducing carbon emissions.
