Sandra Del Bove
Group Head of Innovation, Kingspan
Globally, manufacturing and construction companies are under pressure to produce and use more sustainable products. Yet a pervasive idea still lingers that if something is better for the environment, it must be of lower quality or performance.
But that’s a myth, says Sandra Del Bove, Group Head of Innovation, Kingspan. “Many products were designed around performance and cost, with less attention paid to environmental impact. So, when sustainability became a bigger focus, it was often seen as an extra rather than an opportunity to improve products.”
What’s exciting now is that companies like Kingspan are rethinking products and systems from the ground up. That’s a big change from 5 or 10 years ago when sustainability might have been considered after a product was developed. Today, it’s becoming a key feature from the start.
As a result, embodied carbon is reduced, while performance is maintained and, in some cases, improved. “The challenge isn’t simply to make products lower carbon — it’s to make them lower carbon while still delivering the thermal, fire, durability and quality performance customers expect,” says Del Bove.
Developing solutions that meet future needs
Innovation isn’t just crucial from a sustainability standpoint. It’s become a business imperative too. “Whether it’s refining a manufacturing process, improving a product formulation or finding a more efficient way of working, these changes can deliver significant value for our customers and business,” says Del Bove. “The environmental benefits are important, but innovation is also about growth, resilience and ensuring we’re developing solutions that meet the needs of the future.”
Innovation is about testing, learning and understanding where the limits are.In manufacturing, this requires a high level of research and development. Kingspan’s IKON Innovation Centre runs incremental, adjacent and transformational innovation projects — and sustainability plays a role in all of them.
It’s here that state-of-the-art laboratories — combined with the flexibility and freedom to evaluate new materials — rapidly build prototypes and carry out in-house testing. This allows them to understand both the carbon impact of a material or product and its effect on overall performance.
I don’t think lower-carbon solutions will become ‘the norm’ simply because they’re lower carbon. They’ll become ‘the norm’ because they’ll increasingly be the best overall solution
Lower embodied carbon products that deliver improved performance
One area Del Bove is particularly excited about is the work around lower-carbon materials, circularity and integrated building solutions. Last year, the company launched an insulated panel with integrated solar PV, PowerPanel. “It’s an example of thinking beyond individual products and looking at how the building envelope can actively contribute to energy generation,” she says.
Their environmental sustainability programme, Planet Passionate, also has a tangible impact on innovation. “We have two Planet Passionate targets – to reduce carbon intensity of our key raw materials by 15% by 2030 and utilise 1.5 million tonnes of recycled and renewable raw materials by 2030. We’re always looking at ways to do this, but we’ve already recycled 1 billion bottles, using the recycled PET to increase the recycled content in our QuadCore 2.0 insulated panel.”
“What’s particularly encouraging is that some of them are delivering both lower embodied carbon and improved performance,” she explains.
Del Boveis excited for the next wave of innovation. “I think it will come from the intersection of disciplines rather than any single breakthrough,” she says. “We’re seeing exciting developments in materials science, digital technologies, AI, automation and manufacturing. When they come together, that’s often where the biggest opportunities emerge. We’re also seeing innovation from collaboration across supply chains, universities, startups and customers. No single organisation has all the answers,” she says.
“When people see evidence that a solution performs, they adopt it. That’s how innovation has always worked. I don’t think lower-carbon solutions will become ‘the norm’ simply because they’re lower carbon. They’ll become ‘the norm’ because they’ll increasingly be the best overall solution,” she concludes.
