As home builders grapple with the demands placed on them to develop more sustainable housing, they will increasingly look to their suppliers to help them meet this challenge. Companies serving the housing industry will have many opportunities to help accelerate sustainability. If the housing sector is to become energy and carbon neutral with full recyclability of raw materials, then we need to produce insulation, wood protection, heat reflective materials and other solutions to do this.
Over time, home builders will come to rely on fewer suppliers who are able to make a significant overall contribution to the environmental performance of a building. We think that different suppliers who can work together in partnership have the potential to provide a very powerful proposition, delivering a significant proportion of a home’s sustainability criteria. And suppliers who are proactive and bundle their products together will be more prepared to help those companies they supply reap the rewards.
Suppliers must also ensure their own “house is in order” by becoming much more energy and resource efficient in their own operations. This must happen across the whole value chain, from their suppliers through to their operations and processes. They must become much less dependent on fossil fuel based energy and the non-renewable raw materials used in products. Today, 33 percent of our energy comes from renewable sources (hydropower, solar, wind and biomass). The aim is to increase this to 45 percent over the next decade. Already, 10 percent of the raw materials we use come from renewable sources; we want to increase that share in order to be less dependent.
For us, increasing our own operational efficiency is vital and we have a dedicated eco-efficiency program designed to significantly improve our performance in this area. Over the past 10 years, we have worked hard to improve our business’ energy and resource efficiency, examining everything from operating processes to compliance issues. We also recognize the need to accelerate our commitment to address the key mega trends our customers in the housing sector are experiencing.
Chemical and coatings suppliers within the housing industry must aim to create more value from fewer resources. None of this can be achieved without working in partnership with suppliers, customers and other business partners. But ultimately by collaborating effectively across the whole value chain, companies can accelerate the path toward becoming truly resource and energy efficient.
André Veneman is corporate director of Sustainability for AkzoNobel.
