H+H UK is Britain’s largest manufacturer of aircrete products and has signed up as an associate sponsor for SHIFT, joining the list of companies already in support of this nationwide sustainability initiative.
The only organisation to provide a comprehensive environmental benchmark for affordable housing providers, Sustainable Homes Index For Tomorrow (SHIFT) is supported by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), WWF and UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) and the 37 SHIFT members manage over one million homes in total.
SHIFT members have made a public commitment to improving environmental performance through independent assessment, learning and benchmarking. In sponsoring SHIFT H+H have made clear their determination support these efforts.
The results of SHIFT benchmarking will be released in Inside Housing in February.
Mark Oliver, H+H Managing Director, said: “H+H has time and again demonstrated how its building products fit within a sustainable building agenda. Additionally H+H has taken great care in selecting sustainable raw materials and uses the most appropriate manufacturing and transport processes to ensure the highest and most sustainable environmental standards. This is the reason H+H has joined with SHIFT, the only solid environmental benchmarking system in the industry. We are happy to assist SHIFT and its members achieve their goals and look forward to benefiting from the SHIFT experience ourselves.”
Andrew Eagles, Managing Director of Sustainable Homes welcomed H+H, saying: “We are very pleased to have H+H UK on board. They demonstrate a keen awareness of the importance of environmental issues and have committed to reducing their impacts. H+H’s efforts have been recognised on several levels, with certified Environmental Management Systems (EMS) and compliance with ISO 14001 at all their manufacturing sites. This strong action by manufacturers will ensure that sustainability will continue to be high on the building agenda.”
H+H have demonstrated year on year reductions in their carbon emissions and came 9th in the 2010 Sunday Times Best Green Companies Awards. They were one of the first manufacturers in the construction industry to achieve BSI accreditation for its Integrated Management System, which pulls together three individual management systems for environment (ISO 14001), quality (ISO 9001) and health and safety (OHSAS 18001).
Over 80% of the raw materials used to make aircrete are recycled and H+H UK leads the field in aircrete research and development to improve efficiency and performance. Aircrete is a versatile, light and easy to use product, which is used in a multitude of applications, including hospitals, schools, offices, industrial warehouses and houses.
SHIFT is the environmental benchmark for affordable housing providers. Members are accredited on a scale of Bronze to Platinum.
SHIFT was launched in 2008 with 16 members. Results of the current assessment year will be publicly announced in February 2011.
Visit www.sustainablehomes.co.uk for further information