Month: September 2022

Keystone Group announces the launch of Keystone Live this autumn with a series of free webinar debates featuring expert industry speakers. Introducing four separate webinars, the series covers a range of topics and issues including the delivery of net zero housing, offsite construction, designing with non-combustible materials and how the industry is tackling climate change.

The first online debate, ‘How are we going to deliver Net Zero Housing?’, takes place on Thursday 29th September. With the UK facing the ambitious target of being net zero by 2050, the latest changes to Building Regulations are an all-important stepping stone to the Future Homes Standard. But with more stringent standards in the pipeline, is this achievable?

Moderated by experienced journalist Ruth Slavid, this first webinar also poses the following questions:

• How do we address the performance gap?
• How do we build as designed?
• What are the key areas we should be looking at to help improve the fabric of buildings?
• Is the target of 75-80% less carbon emissions from new homes when compared to current regulations achievable?
• How can manufacturers support the drive for net zero?
• What role does product innovation play?

Featuring debate, discussion and Q & A, the webinar has a stellar line-up of industry panellists including Martin Townsend, Director for BSI Centre of Excellence for Sustainability, Ben Cheetham, Senior Group Technical & Innovation Coordinator at Barratt Developments, Robin Dryer, Director and Architect at CDC Studio and representatives from Keystone Lintels and Keylite.

The second in the webinar series on Thursday October 12th, ‘Does Offsite Construction Offer a Credible Solution to Addressing the Need for More Housing, Improved Quality and Better Value?’ focuses on the benefits of offsite construction and why the industry needs to increase its adoption. Panellists include Mark Farmer, CEO of Cast, Stephen Wightman, UK MMC Lead at Faithful+Gould and Kevin Dundas, MMC & Offsite Manager at Wilmott Dixon.

Thursday 3rd November sees the webinar series ask the question: ‘Is the Construction Industry Doing Enough to Tackle Climate Change?’. Will Arnold, Head of Climate Action at Institution of Structural Engineers, Dr Oliver Jones, Research Director at Ryder Architecture and Nitesh Magdani, Director of Net Positive Solutions will offer their insight and perspectives and what we need to do as an industry to slow climate change.

The final webinar on Thursday 16th November, ‘Designing with Non-Combustible Materials‘ will explore the challenges and key considerations when designing tall buildings and how products have evolved to meet new regulations. Ready to share their experience are expert speakers including Richard Smith, Head of Standards, Innovation & Research at NHBC and Nigel Shields, Director of Quality at Durkan.

Keystone Group Marketing Director, Hayley Lowry commented: “The Keystone Live series of webinars explores key themes from various industry standpoints. Debated by commentators, consultants, specifiers, contractors and product specialists — these free events are set to provide a complete 360˚ analysis of the issues at hand and are not to be missed.”

To book your free place on visit keystonelive.co.uk.

IG Masonry Support has become the first masonry support supplier in the UK to issue Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) on its products according to the GreenBook Live EPD system. This is a significant achievement, demonstrating IG Masonry Support’s commitment to fact-based sustainability reporting and reduced carbon emissions across its business and product range.  

An EPD is a document that quantifiably demonstrates the environmental impacts of a product. They are a Type III environmental label. EPD’s are generated based on data obtained through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). An LCA is performed using a peer reviewed Product Category Rules document (PCR) in line with EN 15804 (the European Standard for the generation of EPD for construction products), ISO 14025, and other related international standards.

The EPDs are registered as part of the EN 15804 EPD Verification Scheme and are recognised by BREEAM (the world’s leading science-based suite of validation and certification systems for sustainable built environment) and the EU’s Green Public Procurement Scheme.

• BREG EN EPD 000462 – Brick on Soffit System (B.O.S.S.)
• BREG EN EPD 000456 – Brick on Soffit System (B.O.S.S. A1)
• BREG EN EPD 000461 – Welded Masonry Support (WMS)
• BREG EN EPD 000457 – Brick Slip Lintel
• BREG EN EPD 000458 – Reveal Support Plate
• BREG EN EPD 000459 – Titan
• BREG EN EPD 000460 – Windpost

IG Masonry Support is committed to becoming a Net-Zero Carbon business in line with the Science Based Targets Initiative. It is also in the process of submitting its targets for verification and public declaration to reach the global Net-Zero goal.

Jemma Ison, Keystone Group Sustainability Manager said: “By declaring the environmental impact of our products through EPDs, we provide transparency of our systems to deliver responsible solutions to our customers as we support the decarbonisation of our sector. This also demonstrates our commitment to sustainability, as well as the social responsibility we have as a business. We aim to supply trustworthy, high quality products at a low expense to our environment.”

The company is already ISO 14001 certified for Environmental Management, a Carbon Neutral business and is continuously improving sustainable working practices. The next step is to utilise the results from the EPDs to minimise the environmental impact of the company’s full product range. The company is already on track to reduce Scope 1 & 2 emissions by 76% by 2025, and is ambitiously taking strides in tackling Scope 3 emissions.

All IG Masonry Support’s EPDs have been launched in collaboration with the Building Research Establishment (BRE), who are internationally recognised for their expertise in Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) in the construction industry.