ENERGY & MANAGEMENT
Sustainability beneath your facility fl oor By Richard Dee, Director at geotechnical contractor, Geobear Ireland
A
ccording to Research, manufacturers across Ireland are under increasing pressure to embed sustainable
practices throughout their operations. As sustainability reporting requirements evolve, businesses are being asked to consider the wider environmental impact of their value chains. For manufacturing facilities facing structural instability, the environmental impact of remediation methods is becoming increasingly important. The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting
Directive (CSRD) requires large EU companies to report on sustainability matters. The CSRD expands the scope and depth of sustainability reporting requirements for companies by placing greater focus on scope 3 greenhouse gases, which are indirect emissions occurring within a company’s value chain. For Irish manufacturers, the sustainability conversation must extend beyond the factory fl oor, with greater attention being paid to the environmental impact associated with suppliers and contractors.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A FACILITY STARTS TO MOVE
The weight of modern manufacturing equipment combined with weak ground soils can result in uneven fl oor slabs and machinery bases. Facility owners must tackle these problems quickly to minimise the effect on operations and uphold worker safety. However, the environmental impact of different remediation methods is becoming an important consideration when decision-makers select a ground engineering contractor. Traditional approaches to ground stabilisation, such as underpinning, can involve extensive excavation. Defective or sunken slabs are removed and replaced with large volumes of concrete to reconstruct foundations or re-level facility fl oors. While work is being completed, facilities may need to restrict employee access while large on-site teams equipped with heavy machinery carry out repairs. The process can take weeks or months, with complex contractor logistics prolonging downtime for manufacturing facilities.
For manufacturers working to reduce their
environmental impact, remediation activities of this scale contribute signifi cant emissions from concrete production and transportation, machinery and fuel requirements and waste disposal, as well as the economic losses from considerable downtime.
A SMARTER, SUSTAINABLE CHOICE FOR GROUND ENGINEERING
Instead, modern ground engineering techniques
offer an alternative to carbon-intensive traditions. Geopolymer resin injection can be used to address voids, weak soils and differential settlement beneath industrial fl oors and foundations. The process involves injecting a specialised geopolymer resin through approximately 16mm diameter holes drilled through existing slabs or foundations. Once injected, the resin expands, making it ideal to fi ll voids, compact loose soils and restore load- bearing capacity. This low-invasive method avoids large- scale excavation, eliminating the need for heavy plant and large site teams as well as reducing the disposal of excavated material. Less invasive projects are often completed quicker in comparison, minimising downtime for manufacturers.
MEASURING THE CARBON DIFFERENCE
Geobear commissioned Carbon Footprint Ltd to conduct an independent lifecycle greenhouse gas assessment comparing geopolymer injection with concrete replacement over a 60-year asset lifespan. The fi ndings revealed that geopolymer injections resulted in the avoidance of 76.02 per cent of the modelled traditional method’s emissions.
At a major power generation facility in
Ireland, essential maintenance required critical components to be removed from the plant and temporarily positioned on an external laydown pad, exerting signifi cant load on the area.
38 July/August 2026 Irish Manufacturing
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Ground investigations identifi ed weak conditions beneath the laydown area, creating safety concerns for the stator maintenance programme. With the scheduled outage unable to be rearranged, the facility owners required a rapid and reliable ground improvement method. Geobear designed a non-intrusive remediation
programme, targeting the upper 2.5 metres of soil beneath the laydown area. Geopolymer injections were carried out through the existing surface, allowing slabs to remain fully intact throughout works. The treatment restored bearing capacity to above the 100 kPa target and ensured the maintenance schedule could proceed without delay. Traditional methods would have required
excavation and reconstruction of the facility’s foundations. By using a less invasive method, emissions associated with heavy machinery and material transportation and disposal were reduced, helping to minimise the environmental impact of the intervention. As Irish manufacturers increasingly consider sustainability throughout their operations and value chains, environmental considerations cannot stop at the factory fl oor. Infrastructure and how it is maintained also has an environmental impact. When ground instability occurs, choosing a remediation method that can minimise both emissions and waste can help manufacturers stabilise foundations while supporting wider sustainability goals.
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