KNAUF RECYCLE SQUARES UP TO BOOST CARILLION SUSTAINABILITY
Sheffield’s Office 1 – the first of four commercial buildings proposed in Phase 2 of major city centre development The Square – marks the start of a significant new commitment to sustainable building practice through waste plasterboard recycling. Main Contractor Carillion plc has signed up for Knauf Drywall’s plasterboard waste recycling programme, selecting Office 1 to launch the initiative, before rolling it out to other Carillion sites nation wide. So far, more than 90 tonnes of plasterboard has been delivered to the Sheffield site, and 16 tonnes of waste removed for recycling. Knauf Drywall is actively promoting waste minimisation through improved design and best practice on building sites, and has invested in facilities at both its factories for recycling of any waste that cannot be engineered out.
Office 1 is an £8 million, six storey building, with 3,965m2 of lettable space, and it joins another office building, a hotel, a car park and retail units completed in the first phase of The Square. Site waste is segregated into 14 cubic yard skips for timber, metals, packaging materials, building rubble – and plasterboard. Carillion Construction Manager Kurt Pilmore says the Office 1 site is working towards a 75% overall target for recycling site waste, rather than sending it to landfill. He says: “As part of Carillion’s wider drive for sustainability, this site is registered under the Considerate Contractors Scheme which requires a conscious effort to minimise environmental impact. The commitment to work with Knauf Recycle means we are taking another big step in the right direction.”
Using Knauf Drywall systems sourced locally through Sheffield Insulations, drylining specialist Horbury Building Systems is fitting the shell and core of the open plan office building. The specification calls for various metal stud partition types using Knauf Wallboard, Knauf Fireshield or Knauf Soundshield to achieve 60 or 120 minute fire ratings and 45dB or 52dB airborne sound reduction. Knauf Fireshield is also specified with Knauf Coreboard for the Knauf Shaftwall system.
Horbury Contract Manager Chris Goodison says drywall installers at Office 1 start each shift with an empty wheelie bin for waste at the workplace. He says: “This increases efficiency, because they have an immediate place to put their waste. This minimises the time required for hoisting waste to the ground and loading it into the skip.”
Although there are relatively few doorways in the Office 1 core, where possible Horbury is using Knauf Drywall’s Eco Door Jamb detail, designed for more economical use of plasterboard at doorways. Chris Goodison says: “We can see immense potential for this in buildings with many doors at regular intervals – such as hotels or student accommodation. We are also impressed by the prospect of increased efficiency through using chippers to reduce the size of plasterboard waste, so we can load skips more economically.”
Knauf Recycle Manager Steve Wilson says the agreement between Carillion and Knauf Recycle provides a closed loop recycling system, which minimises the impact of any future increase in landfill taxes and helps the environment by reducing the need for landfill. He says: “We are working closely together to highlight where waste is being created, and to counter this by developing innovative working practices and design detailing. Working with an established and committed supply chain, Carillion will be able to monitor precise quantities of material used and recycled. Data gathered in this way will help with future good practice guidelines and waste targets.”