Going green

ISO 14001 is a voluntary management standard, which provides businesses with the framework to continually assess and improve environmental practices, including the reduction of waste material, greater energy efficiency, and the use of sustainable resources.

Scott Jameson, managing director at the temporary buildings specialist said that by the very nature of temporary buildings, they are a more environmentally friendly alternative to businesses than permanent builds, and can reduce carbon footprints for warehouse extensions, new builds, and refurbishments.

In fact, the Waste and Resources Action Programme UK (WRAP) stated in a recent paper that temporary buildings can be constructed in half the time as permanent buildings, and with a 65% reduction in energy usage.

“With dwindling resources and the demand for commercial space continuing to grow, a cost effective and environmentally friendly solution is fast becoming a popular choice for many businesses. When it comes to building projects, more and more people are looking for sustainable solutions and, as a provider of building space, it is important that Spaciotempo continues to deliver temporary structures with low environmental impact,” he says.

The UK buildings industry is currently the largest contributor of waste in the UK, with almost 24% of total waste coming from the industry, according to the UK Green Building Council. It is estimated that more than 400 million tonnes of materials are delivered to building sites every year, of which 60 million tonnes are sent to landfill, as a result of over-ordering, damage from poor storage, or inappropriate order placement. Spaciotempo has long been committed to sustainability, and because its solutions are temporary, they can be installed and removed very quickly, with little environmental impact.

“We’ve been working towards ISO 14001 for a while, and applied for the standard after customer feedback intimated that this would provide reassurance of our environmental commitment. As one of a very small number of temporary building specialists to be awarded this accreditation, we are leading the way in helping the buildings industry to clean up its act, and build a more sustainable future,” adds Scott.