www.heatingandventilating.net


Sustainability


The push to a sustainable future


Bart Maris, vice president sales & marketing EMEA at RWC explains more about one of John Guest’s innovations – push-fit technology – and its role in a sustainable future


F


rom flooding to fires and unexpectedly high temperatures, recent news events have highlighted the challenges our environment


is facing. And there’s a growing pressure for the building sector to take action. The industry’s heavy use of raw materials and energy means everyone involved has responsibility for taking both big and little steps to working more sustainably. First adopted in the compressed air market, JG


Speedfit’s push-fit technology is now widely used in plumbing and heating. This is primarily due to its wide and convenient application, replacing the traditional and labour-intensive plumbing connections with a faster, simpler solution. As time has passed, it’s become clear that quite


apart from making the lives of plumbers easier, it’s also playing a big part in the sustainability agenda. Cutting carbon and helping to build safer, sustainable construction. How does push-fit contribute to sustainability? Well, to begin with, due to its push-fit design, there are no blowtorches creating emissions and potential fire hazards, it also reduces the need for cleaning agents. Then when you consider the fuel for blowtorches, the energy needed to make these products, their transportation and waste disposal, the embodied carbon is arguably much lower than traditional alternatives. Equally, the lightweight nature of the technology


is proving invaluable in helping reduce the mass of vehicles needed to transport the materials to the required site – a key factor in improving fuel efficiency as the world seeks ever more sustainable transport.


Conserving precious fluids


Engineered to very high specifications – including BSI and WRAS standards – push-fit technology ensures efficient, leak-free connections, preventing the waste of valuable water, while also protecting other metal fixtures and fittings from rust and corrosion, both of which shorten service life. Adding to this, the simplicity of the technology also means that other water saving devices - such as double check and shut-off valves – can be easily added. Like all good sustainable solutions, the technology is also fully future-proofed, so that any new innovations can also be quickly introduced.


Durability


Until quite recently, ‘disposability’ has been a feature of modern life, including in the built environment where the focus has been on low-cost solutions. As a result, the quality of products hasn’t always been great, in the knowledge that they could be replaced quickly and cost-effectively. Today, with greater environmental awareness,


the focus is firmly on durability and longer service life. JG Speedfit fittings are designed to meet this requirement. Manufactured to exacting standards and tested rigorously in real-world conditions, including in- situ stress testing, all products in the range come with extended warranties (in some cases up to 50 years). One of the reasons for this confidence is the fact that the plastic is hard wearing and, in contrast to copper fittings and pipework, won’t corrode over time.


Building faster and better


In addition to reducing raw materials usage and helping conserve water, push-fit is faster and helps build better, more reliable systems. With the technology’s ability to cut installation time by up to 40% compared with traditional methods, it’s clear that push-fit technology can help accelerate installation and reduce consequent emissions created while onsite. In plumbing terms, push-fit technology has


proved immensely versatile. With pipework in existing buildings often proving to be complex in design, installers can now have tidier, space-saving configurations. In addition to this benefit, it allows buildings to be repurposed and upcycled quickly, a key trend in sustainable development.


Supporting through change


Push-fit has come a long way since it was first introduced and has proved its value as a hugely influential and truly sustainable tool. But sustainability is a continuous journey, and RWC remains focused on making sure that push-fit technology continues to deliver benefits for years to come. This includes R&D and new product development, but there are other factors which contribute towards a sustainable solution – including reliability of supply and on-going support throughout the product’s life cycle.


DOWNLOAD THE HVR APP NOW


January 2022 29


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36