In 2011 Kingspan Insulation made a commitment to operate at Net Zero Energy company by 2020. In 2016, the company has already achieved a 57% net zero energy performance and a 26% reduction in carbon intensity. Lighting and heating costs have been reduced by over 30%.

Kingspan CEO, Gene Murtagh, said: “We are very pleased to have exceeded our targets on our path to operating as a Net Zero Energy company by 2020, hitting 57% renewable energy in 2016. In the five years since launching this initiative we have seen multiple benefits including reductions in costs, less reliance on fossil fuels and demonstrating the business case for our systems and solutions.”

Globally, Kingspan Group 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 heating costs by over 30% and achieved almost a four-fold decrease in carbon intensity levels.
• 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 using solar, wind and biomass technologies. Onsite 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 its Portadown facility, which generates 30% of the plant’s energy needs.
• 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). 

Visit the Kingspan Insulation website.