CLADDING AND IPS SYSTEMS
Sustainability in focus for IPS and cladding specialist
Via its ‘seamless integration’ of in-house manufacturing and installation capabilities, BioClad says it has not only streamlined the process, but can also ensure that quality and reliability are at the forefront of all of its extensive range of antimicrobial cladding and wall protection products, and its IPS units. Sales and Marketing Manager, Sophie Warhurst, and Business Development manager, Joshua Tattersall, report.
As BioClad enters a new chapter, with a recent manufacturing extension in late 2023, our focus sharpens on sustainability and the company’s pivotal role in shaping the future of construction materials. With a steadfast commitment to reducing its environmental footprint, BioClad has embarked on a journey towards greater sustainability in manufacturing. With our production line busier than ever, we are set to have a record-breaking year, having already supplied and installed 141 IPS units this year, working with Harrogate Hospital and Imperial Healthcare NHS Trust, and with a further 49 units currently in production for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust on behalf of Darwin Group. Meanwhile, with the backdrop of the NHS drive towards Net Zero, and wider climate change challenges ever in focus, the spotlight on sustainability has never shone brighter. We at BioClad have ensured that we have a clear and direct approach to ensuring that we can reduce our carbon footprint in multiple areas of the business.
Manufacturing processes A major part of our drive towards greater sustainability is our prioritisation of environmental factors related to our
manufacturing processes, products, and services. We recognise both our ethical duty and legal obligation to safeguard the environment, minimise pollution, and uphold safe, healthy, and sustainable areas. We are equally committed to ensuring that our business activities do not compromise the surrounding areas in which we operate. By using a PVC sheet made from 100%
recycled uPVC, we have cut down wastage from manufacturing. BioClad also offers a 20-year lifetime warranty, but with our products actually proven to last longer than this. As a result, our sheet has a long lifetime, with its high quality and robustness saving customers money on replacing the panels due to their longevity. While traditionally, cladding materials
often end up in landfill at the end of their lifespan, contributing to further pollution, BioClad’s recyclable PVC sheet is designed to minimise waste, to reduce carbon footprint. Typically, standard IPS units have an MDF core easily damaged by high humidity, and moisture. In contrast, BioClad’s 18 mm PVC core is not only impervious to water, durable, and made to last, but all offcut of the PVC core is broken down into a reusable material for re-use, leaving no waste. Set to launch in the third quarter of 2024, meanwhile, is a
BioClad environmental sheet called Bio- Cycle, which will be ISCC+ certified. With a keen eye for attention to detail,
we have also looked at the containers that our products and raw materials are supplied to us in. We now use adhesive buckets with a 50% PCR (post-consumer recycled material) content and a 50% regrind content, meaning that the containers are 50% recycled.
A ‘world-first’ in IPS design The world’s first antimicrobial modular integrated plumbing system (IPS) was, in fact, manufactured by BioClad in 2017, allowing healthcare services and other organisations to dramatically reduce microbial growth within their washrooms and other ‘clean’ areas. Following high demand, it was decided to market the product under its own exclusive banner, which saw the launch of BioPod. Since its introduction, the BioPod unit has increasingly developed in all design, construction, and installation aspects. The quality unit is prefabricated, factory assembled, and tested for adequate strength resistance prior to leaving our manufacturing facility. The lasting quality of our units confirms our position as experts in the field of manufacturing and
BioClad’s digitally printed PhotoClad wall cladding in use at Bedfordshire NHS Foundation Trust’s Gilbert Hitchcock House on the Bedford Hospital North Wing site (pictured left), and in a patient waiting room at Luton and Dunstable Hospital (right).
April 2024 Health Estate Journal 65
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