Climate action

Reducing GHG emissions to combat climate change

The effects of climate change are felt everywhere, and action needs to be taken. We continuously aim to reduce the overall impact of our business operations and increase energy efficiency.

We have 16 manufacturing facilities globally. Their key environmental impacts are greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, waste and water usage. Our target is to reduce scope 1 and scope 2 GHG emissions of our production by 20% per net sales by 2020 from their 2015 levels. Purchasing certified green electricity is one way for us to lower our scope 2 GHG emissions. Updating the heating and illumination in our manufacturing facilities to more energy-efficient ones is not only a climate action but also reduces costs in the long run.

Environmental aspects are considered in our product offering. We are proud that our products enable smart and efficient use of energy in all places. We develop indoor
climate products that need less energy to provide heating and cooling and thus enable more sustainable use of space.

Solar panels are one mean to reduce emissions

Reference case: solar panels at Uponor

Action is needed to combat climate change and its effects on the world. We want to do our part in this. As the world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions need to go down, we are investigating different options for how to reduce our GHG emissions. Solar panels represent one concrete action that we have investigated and taken into use at two of our manufacturing facilities to generate renewable and clean energy.

During 2019, we installed solar panels at our manufacturing facility in Nastola, Finland. The entire installation was working at the end of October. The system produces approximately 270,000 kWh electricity annually. The system has worked well, producing renewable energy for Nastola’s manufacturing facilities.

Uponor is no stranger to solar panels. We also have solar panels at our manufacturing facility in Apple Valley, Minnesota, USA. Since their installation in summer 2016, the panels have generated 120,081 kWh of energy. We have saved an equivalent of 16.5 tons of unused coal since installation.

Rethink plastics

Background Regulation Our actions

Background

Real estate and building industry have a direct impact on 11 out of 17 UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
Circular economy offers building industry many possibilities as long as product development and legal standards go hand-in-hand and dialog between industry and law makers works
Carbon-neutral living and working environments with well-functioning infrastructure and service network can be developed by combining smart and energy-efficient solutions to buildings and resource-wisdom into urban planning
Built environment also refers to infrastructure solutions underground

Regulation

Regulation related built environment is very much on a national level
At European Union level, Level(s) is a voluntary reporting framework to improve the sustainability of buildings. Using existing standards, Level(s) provides a common EU approach to the assessment of environmental performance in the built environment
The US Environmental Protection Agency’s Sustainable Material Management (SMM) Program strategic plan for years 2017-2022 advances SMM in the built environment stressing the potential to conserve resources and reduce waste as well as the economic benefits

Our actions

We provide comfort and convenience of living by developing and producing products that make buildings/ houses more carbon neutral
We are committed to the work of World Green Building Council and the goals of Bringing Embodied Carbon Upfront report which includes Environmental Product Declarations (EPD)
We provide extensive Building Information Modelling (BIM) files library that helps managing the construction process as well as provides data of buildings’ environmental performance that will include EPDs in the future

Enhancing carbon neutral built environment

Background Regulation Our actions

Background

Real estate and building industry have a direct impact on 11 out of 17 UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
Circular economy offers building industry many possibilities as long as product development and legal standards go hand-in-hand and dialog between industry and law makers works
Carbon-neutral living and working environments with well-functioning infrastructure and service network can be developed by combining smart and energy-efficient solutions to buildings and resource-wisdom into urban planning
Built environment also refers to infrastructure solutions underground

Regulation

Regulation related built environment is very much on a national level
At European Union level, Level(s) is a voluntary reporting framework to improve the sustainability of buildings. Using existing standards, Level(s) provides a common EU approach to the assessment of environmental performance in the built environment
The US Environmental Protection Agency’s Sustainable Material Management (SMM) Program strategic plan for years 2017-2022 advances SMM in the built environment stressing the potential to conserve resources and reduce waste as well as the economic benefits

Our actions

We provide comfort and convenience of living by developing and producing products that make buildings/ houses more carbon neutral
We are committed to the work of World Green Building Council and the goals of Bringing Embodied Carbon Upfront report which includes Environmental Product Declarations (EPD)
Uponor provides extensive Building Information Modelling (BIM) files library that helps managing the construction process as well as provides data of buildings’ environmental performance that will include EPDs in the future