Pilkington Netherlands pushes for CO2 reduction with innovative sustainability initiatives

Sustainability is central to the construction industry and within the facade construction industry there is also a growing awareness of the impact of materials on the environment. Pilkington Netherlands, part of the NSG Group, is taking its responsibility in this and is committed to reducing its ecological footprint with innovative sustainability initiatives.

Clear goals

Ambitious CO2 reduction targets have been set within the NSG Group as part of the Science Based Targets Initiative: a 30% reduction by 2030 and complete climate neutrality by 2050. "We are committed to these targets and are on track," says Gerrit Maring, sustainability coordinator at Pilkington Netherlands. "As a leading manufacturer of high-performance glass solutions, we understand the urgency to reduce ecological impact and so in addition to innovation, delivery reliability and product quality, we have added the sustainability pillar to our mission."

Sustainability initiatives

NSG/Pilkington is implementing several initiatives to achieve these sustainability goals. "In addition to reducing our own emissions from flat glass production, we also focus on indirect emissions from purchased energy and our supply chain," Gerrit says. "We have been using 100% renewable energy to reduce CO2 emissions for many years and are increasing the use of recycled materials (cullet) in our production processes." You can read more about this in a blog on the news page of Pilkington Netherlands' website. "In addition, we strive to minimize waste and have adjusted our transport methods, which has led to a reduction of 35% since 2018."

Insulating glass in Category I NMD 

Glass is an essential component of facades and can contribute both positively and negatively to the environmental and energy performance of buildings. Therefore, NSG/Pilkington focuses on improving the sustainability of glass production. By combining innovative technologies with circular thinking, NSG/Pilkington has made the production process of flat glass more sustainable. The results were recorded in an LCA, which in turn was the basis for a Category I environmental statement in the NMD. Pilkington Nederland was thus the first glass producer with a Category I environmental declaration. Gerrit emphasizes that this declaration is of great importance given the increasing requirements for environmentally friendly building for residential and commercial construction. "And this will also apply to other types of buildings in the near future," he knows. "For more information on that, I would like to refer you to our blog on the news page of our website."

Role architects, designers and façade builders

"There is an important role for architects, designers and façade builders," Gerrit believes. "If they know which parts of a building contribute to emissions to what extent, they can make design decisions based on that data from the NMD and thus we reduce CO2 emissions in construction." He notes that there is an increasing focus on the environmental impact of building materials throughout a building's life cycle, including circularity. "In many tenders, especially from the central government and housing associations, there are increasing requirements for this."

Calculation tool

The NMD Category I registration is deliberately modular. "This is because designers, architects or facade builders choose from certain composition options: think of glass types, thicknesses of the glass, coatings and types of spacers. We obviously want the environmental performance (MKI and GWP value) of the total composite product to roll out of the database. Therefore, we have developed a calculation tool for this, which has been tested by a market party and can be requested from us."

Make change

"To achieve the climate goals, we will really have to change as producers and as a sector in many aspects, and sometimes even do things fundamentally differently," says Gerrit. "Within NSG Group's makechange™ program, we bring together all (local) sustainable initiatives. By joining forces and sharing knowledge, we strive for innovative solutions that not only make our own production processes more sustainable, but also have a positive impact on the glass industry and the construction sector."

"Although there is still much work to be done, we are proud of the steps we are taking toward a more sustainable future," concludes Gerrit. "With products like Pilkington MiraiTM, with 52% less CO2 emissions than standard flat glass, our Cradle to Cradle Certified® certification and Category I registration in the NMD, we are contributing to a sustainable glass future."