Embodied carbon in the production of building materials accounts for 28 percent of emissions from the global building and construction sector. Architects, designers and specifiers have a critical role to play in addressing carbon emissions released before built assets are used by partnering with manufacturers and suppliers that have taken measurable steps to reduce emissions throughout their business operations.
DECO Australia, leading manufacturer of timber-look aluminium building products, is leading the way in the building sector with the installation of an additional 958 solar panels across their manufacturing facility in Southwest Sydney, commencing next month.
Back in 2019, DECO invested in 100kw solar panels across the rooftop of their manufacturing facility in Minto, New South Wales. The addition of these new solar panels will increase the company's total solar energy capacity to over 550,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually and supply enough energy to run about 60% of the business' operations.
In other terms, the impact of DECO’s upgraded solar power system would be equivalent to powering 100 average-size homes each year or planting a staggering 10,348 trees annually.
This renewable energy initiative will enable DECO to avoid burning 195 tonnes of coal and prevent the release of over 450 tonnes of harmful CO2 emissions each year. This is a significant step for DECO towards their goal of producing cleaner, greener building products for the construction industry.
“DECO has always committed to improving our carbon footprint and reducing our environmental impact, and we are thrilled to finally be able to invest further and grow in our renewable energy program,” said Richard Hamber, General Manager at DECO Australia.
“The additional 400kw of solar energy from these new panels will provide enough electricity for us to operate two of our largest production lines and further reduce our business’ overall carbon emissions, as well as further reducing the embodied carbon of our products. This is not only important for DECO, but also our specifiers, builders and those end users who are all making conscious efforts to source greener building materials and products.”
Transitioning to renewable energy is an important area within DECO’s Sustainability Framework, which has been built around key targeted areas where the company can make the biggest environmental impact. This step towards renewable energy is only the latest development in DECO’s commitment to reducing emissions after becoming the first to make the switch to LocAl Green lower carbon aluminum across all their extruded products supplied by Capral Aluminium earlier in the year, which reduced their CO2e emissions by half.
These sustainability efforts from DECO demonstrate their dedication to a cleaner industry and represent a sizeable investment for the business. With constantly evolving building codes and the introduction of the NSW Government's new Building Sustainability Guidelines (BASIX) in October of this year, DECO is dedicated to offering the industry cleaner, greener products to help the government reach its NetZero 2050 target.
For more information about DECO Australia and their range of sustainable aluminium building products, please visit www.deco.net.au
