Sustainability

Avoiding the greenwash.

Here is the bit where we tell you how wonderfully green we are, how small our carbon bootprint is, how we tick every box when it comes to saving the planet, and that no one could be doing more.

The truth is that we can't because we don't.

We do however recognise that we have to do our bit and continually strive to do more, it's not a fixed target but a case of continued improvement and that it isn't just about saving on costs.

Sustainable Solutions

The main material we use on a daily basis is steel in the form of steel tube, pumpsets and water storage tanks and steel is recognised as having significant embedded carbon emissions as a result of its production.

We cannot escape the use of steel in the sprinkler industry given its inherent mechanical properties such as strength to weight ratio, fire resistance and long working life however, we can highlight some of the things we have always done that reduce its use.

Steel is the most highly recycled (or multicycled) major construction material used, with the average recycled content of structural steel used in the UK being approximately 60%. Visit sustainablesteel or steelconstruction for more details.

The sprinkler industry is one of the few mechanical and electrical trades (the pipes and wires bit) in the whole of the building industry that almost entirely pre-fabricate off-site. This means that with the exception of packaging, there should be little or no waste associated with the supply and installation of a sprinkler system.

Precision Made Systems

We design all of our systems using state of the art design software that means, providing the architect draws it accurately and the builder builds accurately, we shouldn't have any awkward alterations with bits of pipe to chop off.

We measure (and then measure again because we benefitted from a sound apprenticeship), we design it to suit the risk and the surrounding building, we fabricate it off-site to fit your building and then we install.

It fits like a glove and we don't have any awkward off-cuts to consign to the recycling skip.

We don't want you to think that Pyro are unique as being the only sprinkler company to prefabricate off-site, we aren't – the whole of our industry does it too and it's something we can be proud of.

At Pyro Protection, we also fully hydraulically calculate our sprinkler systems which allows us to optimise the pipework sizes and thus closely matching the required sizes to the pressure and flow the hazard category demands.

Preventing Fire Loss

There is of course one other crucial element to consider when assessing our particular industry.

Our sprinkler systems stop buildings and facilities from suffering catastrophic fire loss.

This therefore prevents the unnecessary release of further carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from both existing building materials, and the replacement or new building materials. It limits the extent of firewater run-off to deal with and the significant polluting combustion products associated with a large fire.

Sustainability can mean different things to different people and can have a number of threads, however when considering the sustainability of a building alongside a robust approach to risk control, automatic fire sprinkler systems should have a significant role to play.

No Respite

All that said we certainly aren't resting contentedly on the moral high ground. We need to continue to strive to reduce our waste and our impact and for that reason we constantly look for the things that we can do better or differently.

These are just a few of the things that we are doing to help do our bit for the environment. It isn't just about green credentials as many of them make not only common but also economic sense, doubling the rewards. They are only a start but as the Chinese proverb states "The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now."

Recycling

A number of years ago someone predicted the paperless office. We are not sure whether we are a textbook example of one but we do recognise that we still have room for improvement. Therefore we limit our printing wherever possible, we archive electronically (where legally permitted) and we recycle all the paper waste we produce.

We send all of our printing cartridges to be recycled via our business centre charity-recycling scheme; any cardboard packaging we accumulate is also disposed of through a cardboard recycling network.

Suppliers & Site Installation

We work on a national basis, however wherever we can we will source materials as close to our installation site as possible. We also carefully consider our deliveries to site and limit the number required, thereby limiting unnecessary journeys and carbon emissions.

Given the nature and type of goods we use there isn't a huge amount of packaging associated with it, however we examine the type and amount of packaging required and we reduce and reuse wherever we can. Wooden pallets for instance are returned to suppliers or recycled locally.

Offices

We turn things off when we aren't using them, and we turn off everything that's not essential when we aren't in work.