GF Building Flow Solutions (formerly Uponor) has made further advances on its journey toward carbon-neutral operations, adding Hutchinson (USA) and Zella-Mehlis (Germany) to its range of manufacturing locations that have reached carbon neutral status (scope 1 and 2). This result highlights GF Building Flow Solutions’ ongoing commitment to minimize resource consumption.
Thomas Fuhr, Chief Technology Officer at GF Building Flow Solutions, said: “GF Building Flow Solutions strives continuously to pioneer sustainable water solutions for buildings while reducing its operations’ environmental footprint, helping also customers reach their sustainability goals. Out of GF Building Flow Solutions’ 13 manufacturing sites, four have now achieved carbon neutrality. Our factory in Nastola (Finland) reached carbon neutrality in December 2023 and our factory in Virsbo (Sweden) reached it earlier this year.”
GF Building Flow Solutions’ pipe production process at the Hutchinson site consumes ample electricity, causing most of the factory’s emissions and offering a major opportunity for emission reductions. Key actions at the plant in Hutchinson included focusing on electricity consumption, energy efficiency and the use of green electricity since 2021. These measures have reduced the site’s emissions by about 94 percent as compared to the baseline year 2019.
The Zella-Mehlis manufacturing site started the transformation to carbon-neutral production already ten years ago when it transitioned to 100 percent-certified green electricity. Key measures at the plant in Zella-Mehlis covered energy-efficiency actions in manufacturing and in the buildings including the installation of a heat pump-based heat recovery system in 2023 to replace district heating. These measures have reduced the site’s emissions by about 95 percent as compared to the baseline.
To achieve full carbon neutral status, according to GF Building Flow Solutions’ Carbon Neutral Factory concept, the rest of the emissions, at both Hutchinson and Zella-Mehlis, will be offset through a combination of tree-based carbon removal verified and retired using the Verra registry and biochar-based carbon removal using the Puro.earth or Carbon Standards International registry.
“Overall, I’m proud of our track record of reducing electrical energy consumption, moving to green energy sources, and now Hutchinson achieving the designation of being a Carbon Neutral manufacturing site,” says Jon Sillerud, Vice President of Integrated Supply Chain at GF Building Flow Solutions Americas. “This demonstrates our continued commitment to being an industry leader on sustainability.”
Learn about GF’s Sustainability Framework.
