EmissionZero Unveil Largest Group of Irish Carbon Neutral Companies and Ireland’s First Carbon Neutral Building

Renobuild becomes the first carbon neutral flooring company in the country

At a prestigious event in Dublin City Hall last night, EmissionZero, Ireland’s premier Carbon Consultancy, presented 12 Carbon Neutral Companies and the Ireland’s First Carbon Neutral Building. The EmissionZero partner companies have all measured, reduced and offset their CO2, resulting in lower carbon footprints and financial savings.

‘’Traditionally, the construction industry in Ireland has contributed the most to embodied carbon and, as a participant in this industry, I feel it is important that we all take responsibility for this and act to reduce, in any way we can, the impact of our actions and decisions,” says Seamus Redmond, managing director of Renobuild Ireland, the first carbon neutral flooring company in the country. 

“We have been looking for a measurable system in Ireland for some time that would be similar to the LEED program in the US and Emission Zero lends itself to this. The fact that we are audited and we have targets has focused our attentions, and I take all opportunities I can to influence the decision makers to use low carbon materials and recycled materials in their floors and buildings. Their decision to use these materials will reduce the carbon footprint of the building,” he adds.

“We may think that our input is too small to matter but, if we work on the Ryan Air principle of a small amount from a lot of people has a great impact, we can all have a positive contribution. We are a hard working nation and for the most part a very positive nation, even in these tough times, but we must change and the biggest change we must make is to our attitude, Emission Zero is helping Renobuild with this!” 

The 12 EmissionZero partners are:

• The Convention Centre Dublin
• McCann Fitzgerald
• Deloitte
• The Electric Picnic
• MosArt Architects
• Renobuild
• GreenMe
• The Sycamore Club
• Practice PR
• CCP Recruitment
• Ecocem
• Xwerx

In order to achieve the carbon neutral accreditation, each company initially had their Carbon Footprint measured in accordance with the Green House Gas Protocol. This provides the starting point for any reduction strategy; after all you can’t manage what you don’t measure!

Each company then received tailored Carbon Footprint Reduction Strategies as well as a target for reduction. Some of the companies have already shown drops in Carbon Footprint of up to 40%. In order to reduce the carbon footprint, organisations have to reduce their energy consumption and reduce waste, luckily, both factors impact positively on their bottom line!

The third and final stage is to offset the carbon footprint. In the case of this EmissionZero initiative, all the Verified Emission Reductions are 100% Irish and verified and validated in accordance with the Voluntary Carbon Standard by UN accredited auditors.

In the case of a building or structure, the Carbon Footprint can be divided into two separate categories: Operational CO2 and Embodied CO2. The operational CO2 is the amount of Carbon released during the day to day running of a building (gas, electricity, etc...) and the embodied CO2 is the amount of CO2 released during the manufacture, supply and construction of a building.

The Convention Centre Dublin is the first building in the world to apply the measure, reduce and offset principle. During its construction through the use of Ecocem Cement, the CCD reduced its Carbon Footprint by a massive 11,000 tonnes of CO2. Offsetting the unavoidable embodied Carbon Footprint means that the Convention Centre Dublin is the World’s first truly Carbon Neutral Building.

Conor O’Riain, Director of EmissionZero commented: “Make no mistake, Climate Change is the biggest challenge facing us today. We are very proud to be working with this group of organisations who are proving that economic growth and concern for the environment can go hand in hand.”