Library

Kingspan’s Planet Passionate Resource Center offers educational materials developed by industry experts that discuss a wide range of sustainability topics. Browse our growing library of posts or sort by post type, topic or audience to find answers to your specific questions.

Carbon
Article

Leading Sustainability Certifications

Sustainable building as a concept sounds easy – use less impactful materials that require less energy, be resilient yet healthy for human occupancy, ...
Circularity
Article

Recycling vs. Upcycling vs. Reuse

Sometimes it feels as if we live in a world of waste with little consideration of what happens to materials after their useful lives… toss it and ...
Circularity
Article

Cradle to Cradle

Sustainable product certifications have traditionally been single attribute based. The most popular of these is the Energy Star label, which focuses ...
Carbon
Article

Carbon Tax

A carbon tax, in simple terms, is a monetary fee for the environmental and economic impacts associated with the release of carbon dioxide into the ...
Carbon
Article

Carbon Capture

Although we’ve seen progress towards diversification from fossil fuels, the reality remains that most of the world’s energy demand comes from and is ...
Carbon
Article

What is Life Cycle Assessment

A life cycle assessment (LCA) is a methodology used to quantify the environmental impacts of a material, product, process, or activity throughout its ...
Carbon
Article

Embodied Carbon vs. Operational Carbon

Within the sustainability discourse today the term “carbon” is frequently used to represent the impacts that we are having on our climate. Carbon, ...
Energy
Article

Defining Scope 1, 2, and 3

To understand scopes 1, 2, and 3, it’s important to first understand where these terms are commonly used in the sustainability space – greenhouse gas ...
Carbon
Article

What is a Whole Building Life Cycle Assessment?

A Whole Building Life Cycle Assessment (WBLCA) is fundamentally the same concept as a regular life cycle assessment, but on an entire building ...
Carbon
Article

It’s All in the Details: Granular, Site-Specific EPDs are Essential to Reducing Embodied Carbon in the Built Environment

Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) transparently communicate the environmental impact of any product or material over its lifetime. Like a ...
Carbon
Article

The Urgent Need for Retrofitting in the U.S.: Reducing CO2 Emissions from the Built Environment

Constructing new buildings allows general contractors and architects to incorporate sustainable elements and practices. However, it can take between ...
Kingspan
Video

Converting Manufacturing Waste to Building Material

Kingspan’s Deland facility is partnering with Belter Tech to recycle its foam panel waste.
Water
Article

Water in Manufacturing

It’s likely that every manufactured product uses water during some part of the production process, whether that’s for creating the product, input ...
Circularity
Interview

Extended Life Models and Reuse

Extended life models for construction products can take many forms, some of which require several systems to be in place to enable such models. Tommy ...
Carbon
Article

What is an EPD?

An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is exactly what it sounds like. It is the environmental impact that a product can have on the environment ...
Kingspan
Interview

Innovation Today for Tomorrow’s Buildings

At Kingspan, we believe innovation holds the key to solving the built environment’s greatest challenges. We sat down with Sandra Del Bove, Kingspan’s ...
Energy
Article

On-site vs. Off-site Renewables

First, let’s define each. On-site renewables, aka direct, are “behind the meter” systems at a specific location, providing energy on-demand or via ...
Carbon
Article

How to Read an EPD

EPDs don’t contain any proprietary information that manufacturers need to keep within their organization but do disclose the important environmental ...
Circularity
Blog

Stemming the Tide of Plastic Pollution

Plastic pollution is currently one of the world’s most pressing environmental issues. Disposable plastic products are creating a massive waste stream ...
Carbon
Article

Net Zero Buildings: The Role of Insulated Metal Panels

When it comes to buildings, there are two types of carbon emissions: operational carbon and embodied carbon. Operational carbon refers to emissions ...
Circularity
Article

Innovation with Insulated Panel Production Waste

Around 95% of the value of construction materials is lost as buildings decay into obsolescence and then demolition. This is largely due to the ‘take, ...
Kingspan
Article

Making Sustainability Sustainable in Manufacturing

By Brent Trenga, Director of Sustainability for Kingspan Insulated Metal Panels North America
Carbon
Article

Carbon Capture Gaining Momentum as One Solution for Fighting Climate Change

Carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), a process that captures carbon dioxide (CO2) formed during power generation and industrial processes, ...
Carbon
Article

Where to Use an EPD

Environmental product declarations (EPD) are transparency tools that are useful for a multitude of professionals aiming to understand the ...
Kingspan
Video

Innovating Ways to Re-Purpose Insulation Waste

Learn how Kingspan is re-purposing its panel insulation waste to produce a new building material.
Energy
Article

What are Net Zero Buildings and Why are They Important?

Net zero buildings are highly efficient structures that produce as much energy as they use on an annual basis. These buildings incorporate renewable ...
Circularity
Article

What is Circularity?

Circular building product practices refer to the adoption of strategies and principles that promote the circular economy within the construction ...
Circularity
Article

Breaking Down Today’s Waste Streams

Individuals, households, and industries all produce waste on a daily basis. How we manage these waste streams directly influences their impacts – to ...
Carbon
Whitepaper

Reducing the Embodied Carbon of Walls in Industrial Buildings

Download the Whitepaper
Kingspan
Interview

Get to know Brent Trenga, Kingspan’s Director of Sustainability for North America

Tell us about your career journey thus far I studied architecture at Penn State University and was fortunate enough to have James Wines as my thesis ...
Water
Article

Defining Measures of Water Use

Water withdrawal – taking water from groundwater (fresh water stored within the soil’s particles and rocks) or surface-water sources (streams, ...
Carbon
Article

What is Embodied Carbon?

All building materials go through a life cycle, from raw material extraction to end-of-life disposal. Throughout each phase along this journey, ...
Kingspan
Article

Highlights From Our Second Annual Planet Passionate Report

We recently published our second annual Planet Passionate report which reviews the second year of progress in this 10-year sustainability program. ...
Circularity
Article

Waste Diversion Commitments

Building Product Manufacturer Commitments Building product manufacturer commitments refer to the initiatives and targets set by manufacturers to ...
Energy
Article

Building’s Operational Energy

Operational energy refers to the energy required to operate and maintain a building on a day-to-day basis, including electricity, heating/cooling, ...
Kingspan
Blog

A Snapshot of 2021 Planet Passionate Milestones

With 2021 in the books, Kingspan is working to put together our annual “Planet Passionate” Sustainability Report, reviewing the second year of ...
Kingspan
Article

Continuing Innovation and Commitment to Decarbonize Operations

In June 2021 we voluntarily updated our science-based targets to bring them in line with 1.5oC future.
Carbon
Video

Embodied Carbon and the Building Envelope

A Unique Continuing Education Course presented by Brent Trenga, Director of Sustainability, North America
Carbon
Article

The Role of Steel in the Sustainability of Insulated Metal Panels

When it comes to reducing carbon emissions in the manufacture of insulated metal panels (IMPs), steel plays a critical role. That’s because steel is ...
Carbon
Video

Embodied Carbon & Building Material Selection

Kingspan compared the embodied carbon of multiple building materials. Review the results.
Circularity
Blog

New Use for Insulated Panel Production Waste

Finding new uses for construction products that would otherwise be destined for landfill or incineration, while also reducing carbon emissions, is ...
Water
Article

Water in Operations

To keep buildings, their surroundings, and the people inside them functioning, water is essential. Like manufacturing facilities, a significant ...
Energy
Blog

Decarbonizing Manufacturing with Direct Renewable Energy

It is no secret that energy is closely linked with climate change. Approximately 60% of our electricity comes from burning fossil fuels which ...
Circularity
Blog

From Trash to Treasure: How Kingspan’s North American Plants are Diverting Waste from Landfills

Kingspan is on pace for a 30% reduction in waste sent to landfills by the end of the year at our five North America insulated metal panel ...
Kingspan
Blog

The Urgent Business Imperative of Sustainability

High carbon, resource-intensive approaches to business operations are heating up the planet, contributing to the pollution of air, land and sea and ...
Kingspan
Blog

Planet Passionate: Inspiring Positive Changes at Our Plants

Planet Passionate, our 10-year sustainability program is a driving force for reducing our environmental impact. Kingspan plants and operations across ...
Energy
Article

Net Zero

Net zero has become a buzz word in sustainability circles, but what exactly does it mean? To put it simply, net zero refers to a state in which there ...
Energy
Case Study

Teamwork: Insulated Metal Panels Work in Concert with Other Energy Saving Solutions

Energy efficiency in buildings is key to reducing carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. Buildings account for approximately 40% of ...
Water
Blog

Combatting Water Scarcity and Ensuring Water Security Through Conservation

Water is one of the earth’s most precious natural resources. It’s a resource that is being depleted by the effects of climate change. Warming ...
Energy
Blog

Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions with Direct Renewable Natural Gas

Our 2022 Planet Passionate Report found that Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are projected to increase almost 14% under the current trajectory over ...
Circularity
Blog

Combatting Climate Change Through Circularity

According to the 2021 Circularity Gap Report, to keep our world livable and thriving, we need to double global circularity from 8.6% to 17%. The ...
Energy
Article

Energy Use Explained

Energy originates from a variety of sources, serves a multitude of purposes, and can be both consumed and produced. It can also be converted from one ...
Circularity
Article

How Else Do Organizations Deal with Waste?

Waste diversion refers to the practice of reducing, reusing, and recycling waste materials instead of sending them to landfills or incinerators. For ...
Circularity
Blog

Understanding the Existential Requirement of Circularity

Circularity is more than a buzzword. It has become a necessity. The linear take-make-waste product lifecycle that characterizes our extractive ...
Kingspan
Article

Green Business Initiatives

Last year, CO2 in the atmosphere reached record levels at 417 parts per million – levels not experienced by the atmosphere in several million years. ...
Kingspan
Blog

Making Strides to Zero Waste: Kingspan’s DeLand, Florida Plant

Construction waste is a major environmental problem, increasing the burden on landfills which emit methane, pollute the air and contribute to the ...
Water
Blog

Being Planet Passionate Means Doing Our Part to Clean Up Our Oceans

Marine debris, man-made solid material, including trash and litter, that ends up in the ocean, is threatening beaches, coastal waters, estuaries, and ...
Circularity
Press Release

Kingspan Insulated Panels North America on Pace to Reduce Waste to Landfill by 50 Percent

Effort part of Kingspan’s commitment to zero waste to landfill by 2030
Kingspan
Press Release

Kingspan Insulated Panels North America Incorporates New Sustainability Initiatives

Kingspan’s upgraded Modesto, California manufacturing facility now uses upcycled plastic bottles in manufacturing, adding PV solar roof