Breaking new ground in sustainable construction, Capral Aluminium has achieved yet another milestone with its lower carbon aluminium offer, LocAl recognised at the 2023 Architecture and Design Sustainability Awards.
In an era where environmental consciousness is paramount, Capral's locally extruded, lower-carbon aluminium stands out as a testament to the company's commitment to sustainable practices and aluminium stewardship.
The Sustainability Awards is Australia's longest-running and most prestigious awards program dedicated to acknowledging and celebrating sustainable design and architecture excellence. The 2023 edition marks the 17th year of the program, with winners announced on November 9th at the annual gala event held in Sydney.
Capral was recognised as the Green Building Product category winner for its market-leading lower carbon aluminium offer - LocAl.
"We are incredibly grateful to be recognised by the expert judging panel, who are leaders in their respective fields – from universities, industry associations and architecture firms; they know what sustainable buildings look like and what it takes to achieve them – and they picked LocAl," Capral’s corporate marketing and communications manager Kellie Moore commented.
When LocAl was introduced in November 2022, Capral had a clear objective to make locally extruded, lower-carbon aluminium available to Australian manufacturers, architects and designers.
The LocAl offer includes two lower carbon aluminium options: LocAl Green with carbon emissions of 8kg CO2e/kg Al and LocAl Super Green at 4kg CO2e/kg Al – both amongst the lowest carbon aluminium available globally.
"For a very long time, window system designers have been talking about the thermal performance of window systems as the key to creating a sustainable building envelope. At Capral, what we recognise is that the time has come to go a step further; not only must the window systems we bring to market be high performance with excellent thermal credentials, but we must also prioritise the reduction of embodied carbon," Moore noted.
LocAl is supplied as standard on all Capral proprietary window and door systems with no pricing premium. That is, when you specify from the Capral AGS, Artisan, Futureline Urban, UrbanPlus or locally distributed Schüco ranges, the primary aluminium for those systems will carry the LocAl Green badge, with a carbon intensity of 8kg CO2e/Kg Al.
"We are leading the Australian window industry as the first supplier to make lower carbon aluminium standard on our window and door products, allowing architects to reduce the embodied carbon in their window, door and commercial framing systems at no additional cost," Moore said.
As Australia's largest extruder and distributor of aluminium products, the reach of local aluminium now extends well beyond Capral's own windows and doors, with many innovative Australian manufacturers having decided to switch to LocAl aluminium for their extruded aluminium supply, proactively focusing on reducing the embodied carbon within their aluminium products.
"We have been excited by the support of other innovative Australian manufacturers prioritising decarbonisation who have switched to LocAl for all their extruded aluminium, many of which are servicing the Australian construction industry, but the uptake extends into a wide range of industry sectors from architectural products, to solar rails and even commercial ships and transport," Moore added.
In addition to the award-winning LocAl lower carbon aluminium offer, Capral continues to lead the way as Australia's only Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) certified extruder. Capral Aluminium has been certified against the ASI Performance Standard V3 and Chain of Custody (CoC) V2 for the extrusion, warehousing and distribution of aluminium products and services. The certifications apply to all of Capral's 26 facilities, composed of mills, distribution centres and trade centres, spread across every state and territory in Australia.
"ASI Certification is our tool in assuring Australian manufacturers, architects and designers that the aluminium they specify from Carpal is produced responsibly right from the very start of the value chain. If you are buying or specifying aluminium, you should ask for a lower carbon option and insist that your aluminium carries ASI certification at every step within the value chain," Moore concluded.
Capral's recognition at the Sustainability Awards comes on the same day the organisation expanded its LocAl offer into rolled products, with an option to provide LocAl aluminium plate now available from Capral.
The need for sustainable building materials has transcended from a trend to a fundamental imperative, driving companies such as Capral to lead the charge in introducing solutions that meet stringent sustainability criteria and deliver superior performance and functionality. Capral's commitment to sustainability is evident in its holistic approach to product development, manufacturing processes, and corporate social responsibility, positioning the company as a torchbearer of responsible and ethical aluminium supply within the Australian market.
