Building for Climate 2024: Kingspan France unveils its "low carb" approach to accelerate the fight against "tertiary sieves"

From waterproofing membranes to insulation panels and lighting solutions, Kingspan is unveiling a decarbonisation approach designed for the entire life cycle of materials and which involves all the group's entities. The launch of these new 'lowcarb' ranges is planned for 2025 on the French market.

Kingspan France is deploying a 'low carb' approach to contribute to sustainable construction and renovation as a whole

With the deployment of new low-carbon ranges, the Kingspan France group is positioning itself as a facilitator of the decarbonization of buildings, to enable stakeholders to build and renovate sustainably. This commitment is part of Kingspan's sustainable development strategy 'Planet Passionate'. Since 2020, the group has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 65% ​​on its scopes 1 and 2. Kingspan is aiming for a 90% absolute reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from its activities and a 42% absolute reduction in its scope 3 GHG emissions compared to the 2020 reference year.

For Cédric Bruge, President of Bacacier By Kingspan: "RE2020 encourages the massive use of bio-sourced materials, but what about renovation? The term 'thermal sieve' is now part of common language, what place for 'tertiary sieves'?"

For François Becquaert, Country Manager Kingspan Waterproofing: "To decarbonize 'at all levels', we are thinking about the materials used in construction and renovation operations in order to favor those that generate the least possible greenhouse gases, throughout their life cycle."

The group has developed processes to reduce the embodied carbon of its daylighting solutions, waterproofing membranes and insulation panels.

BACACIER BY KINGSPAN/ Low carbon insulating sandwich panels incorporated

To help reduce the carbon footprint of buildings, Bacacier By Kingspan is developing a QuadCore LEC range, already available in the UK, which will arrive on the French market soon. The Life Cycle Analysis of the QuadCore AWP LEC shows a 21% reduction in embodied carbon compared to the existing QuadCore[1].

KINGSPAN WATERPROOFING/ Expert in sustainable waterproofing solutions

Thanks to the expertise of DERBIGUM, a pioneer in the recycling of materials, the group already offers a membrane with the lowest carbon impact on the market.

Derbigum, pioneer in the low carb approach

For over 30 years, Derbigum (Kingspan Etanchéité) has been thinking about decarbonisation from the design of materials. Derbigum has established the first bitumen waterproofing recycling facility in Europe, capable of transforming up to 5.000 tonnes of used roofing into recycled raw materials (RPM) for new roofing solutions. Thanks to this recovery sector, 30.000 tonnes of bitumen have been recycled in the Derbigum plant since its creation in 1990. The new Derbicoat NT / Derbigum NT roofing membranes made from installation offcuts and old roofs contain between 25% and 30% recycled material and are themselves 100% recyclable (depending on their implementation methods). The use of the Derbigum NT4 waterproofing solution rather than a standard bitumen two-layer made it possible to avoid 126.859 tonnes of CO2.

LIGHT + AIR / A natural lighting system to reduce energy consumption

Kingspan Light + Air, a specialist in ventilation, smoke extraction and natural lighting solutions, is developing a low-carbon lighting solution with an aluminium frame. This continuous lighting system allows up to 30% reduction in building energy consumption and will be available on the French market in 2025.

DOME SOLAR/ Photovoltaic mountings made from low-carbon recycled steel

The specialist in solar panel mounting systems develops innovative solutions in low-carbon steel (Hélios RC3 and Hélios B2), which use recycled materials or steel produced from solar and wind energy.

For Jean-Philippe Leray, President of Dome Solar: “Dome Solar is working to transition its supply chain to source low carbon steel and reduce the carbon footprint of its steel products (Helios RC3 and Helios B2).”

The fight against 'tertiary sieves', a project to be tackled across the entire territory

While the tertiary sector represented 36% of direct greenhouse gas emissions in 2023[2], Kingspan reveals an unprecedented x-ray of the 'tertiary sieves' across the country.

For Frédéric Jullien, Managing Director of Kingspan Light + Air: "Thanks in particular to the tertiary decree, we are recording an average drop of 22% in the energy consumption of tertiary buildings between 2010 and 2022, although 16% still have a DPE classified from F to I[3], i.e. more than 28.000 "tertiary sieves", the project is colossal!"

64% of energy consumption is directly linked to seasonal variations and thermal comfort, in particular to compensate for the lack of insulation in buildings, with 46% dedicated to heating in winter and air conditioning in summer.

The tertiary strainers are distributed fairly evenly across the entire
territory.

[1] The QuadCore AWP LEC Life Cycle Assessment shows a 21% reduction in LCA modules A1 – A3 (product stage) compared to the existing QuadCore AWP according to EN15804-A2 for a thickness of 100 mm. The EPDs for QuadCore AWP LEC, QuadCore KS1000RW LEC and QuadCore Coldstore LEC are third-party verified and available for download on the EPD Hub website. The 21% reduction for QuadCore AWP LEC is achieved through raw material changes in steel. Comparing AC modules (product stage, construction process stage, use stage, end-of-life stage), the overall reduction is 15%. These calculations were published on February 17, 2023.

[2] France Nation Verte - Consultation file | Accelerating the decarbonization of the building sector - June 2023

[3] Ademe – Mapping of DPE labels for tertiary buildings