Reduce the Carbon Footprint of Your Next Project

Global Synthetics is committed to helping you reduce your carbon footprint through well-designed geosynthetics solutions.

As cities continue to grow throughout the world, new infrastructure needs to be built and older roads, buildings and transport links upgraded or rebuilt to serve the growing needs of the population.

There are many facets to construction projects that contribute to CO2 emissions, including machinery, materials and the potential for development to overtake green spaces. Progress is being made in some areas but in others, uptake is slow.

This article focuses on one of the positive ways to actually reduce CO2 emissions on the building site.

How? By choosing quality geosynthetics and geogrids that provide strength, stability, a long design life, and reduce reliance on upstream resources such as aggregate quarrying and diesel-emitting transport.

How do geosynthetics have a positive impact on CO2 production?

It might come as a surprise that geosynthetic reinforcement products such as NAUE Secugrid® can assist in lessening the overall CO2 footprint for your project.

This is made possible due to the substantial reduction in aggregate required for a road project, for example. Less aggregate is required because Secugrid® increases the strength of the base course by such a significant amount that it delivers the same result with less aggregate material required.

Less aggregate – often tonnes and tonnes less – means less need for quarrying, less heavy vehicle transport and reduced diesel emissions from trucking in huge amounts of material.

Less site preparation is required when you choose geogrids too, which means less time, energy and emissions from earthmoving machinery such as excavators and rollers.

The role of geosynthetics

Sourcing materials from respected international brands such as Naue and Propex, Global Synthetics brings our customers a wide range of geogrids, geotextile materials, drainage solutions and erosion control products.

Many of these products display advantages over traditional reinforcement methods, providing quicker installation, better use of available space, and decades of design life meaning less maintenance over time.

All of this adds up to a product that facilitates faster delivery of your projects, and fewer resources consumed in the process.

Here are three ways that geosynthetics offer ecological advantages for your project:

a. Making better use of the available land

Many large projects have geological features to contend with, which often have a strong bearing on the location of transport routes or the alignment of roads.

Although building a road straight up an extreme slope is not ideal, the use of geosynthetics can help you to make the best use of the available space on your site, especially in MSE (mechanically stabilised earth) applications.

Installing geogrids such as NAUE Secugrid® on steeper walls and slopes allows engineers to maximise the available space particularly on mountain roads and similar projects. And, as we already know, using Secugrid® for soil reinforcement reduces transport needs (and therefore costs & emissions).

b. Preventing erosion and environmental damage

Geotextile & erosion solutions from suppliers such as Propex® allow engineers to design a solution that keeps silt, runoff and landslips under control.

Erosion during the construction process itself can be a major issue, but longer-term environmental erosion can be significantly reduced using solutions such as turf reinforcement mats and geotextiles specifically designed to arm sites against erosion.

Long-term erosion in built environments can often come down to inadequate project choices in the beginning. For example, when walls begin to lean or roads crack or rut, significant sediment can migrate from these sites, polluting waterways.

Choosing a reliable geosynthetic erosion control product with a long design life can eliminate this issue, negating the need for future repairs and keeping environmental damage to a minimum.

c. Longer design life = less maintenance

The element of design life cannot be overlooked, as it is one of the key things to consider when determining the right geosynthetic product for your project. A geotextile or geogrid that is designed for decades of use is a much better option from a sustainability perspective than a short term solution that needs frequent upkeep or complete replacement in the near future.

Secugrid® provides an economical, highly-engineered solution for common reinforcement applications that are not just useful but actually improve the surrounding environment.

Its material characteristics such as excellent strength transfer, radial interlocking and transfer of stresses all add up to reduce the need for aggregate. Additionally, steeper walls can be constructed, which saves land space and provides greater longevity due to its high internal strength.

Ultimately, using quality geosynthetics from Global Synthetics means contractors can complete projects faster, without sacrificing quality, with less site disturbance, and with less reliance on upstream processes that contribute to CO2 emissions.

This results in project cost savings and better performance, today and in the future.

Our team is here to help you reduce your carbon footprint

Providing reliable and accurate engineering advice is what Global Synthetics is known for, and it’s for this reason that you can trust our team to provide the best, most sustainable geosynthetic solution for your next construction project.

Downloads

• Decreasing Our Carbon Footprint (.pdf 2.3mb)

• Geotextile Section Guide (.pdf 2mb)

Contact the engineering team at Global Synthetics for more information on the right solution for your project.