Environmental Sustainability
We want to be the New Zealand leader in sustainable roofing materials, and we've set ourselves some ambitious goals to get there.
Sustainability is at the core of many industries, but it can be difficult to tell the genuine participants from those just giving lip service. Dimond Roofing® has been implementing green building principals across the industry for a number of years now and has developed a fully realised environmental sustainability pathway to reach our goal of reducing our carbon emissions by 30% by 2030.
We are proud to have met the criteria for “Level A” certification for the Global GreenTag™ GreenRate™ ecolabel and as part of our Toitū carbonreduce® accreditation, we are also measuring all of our essential Scope 1 & 2 emissions, as well as voluntarily measuring our major Scope 3 emissions.
The following information serves to outline the process Dimond has undertaken to achieve these accreditations, and our commitments to further improvement to the future.
It starts with choosing “best-in-class” suppliers
ColorCote® Environmental Product Declaration
We worked with our main coil coating supplier, ColorCote® to share manufacturing data in order to assist them to develop a fully realised Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) which was independently 3rd party audited, then accredited by the Australasia EPD organisation and launched in April 2019.
The ColorCote EPD quantifies into numbers the following factors and manufacturing processes that lead to the overall carbon footprint of ColorCote’s product range:
- Non-renewable energy consumed
- Fresh water consumed in taking the ore from the ground
- The steelmaking process (wherever that may be in the world)
- Transportation (pre & post painting process)
- Painting Process
- Rollforming at any of Dimond’s factories across New Zealand
Through this process, we are able to make a full comparison of the pre-painted steel products available in New Zealand, as represented in the below table.
Source: Environmental Product Declarations from ColorCote® and COLORSTEEL®, both audited by a 3rd party and then accredited by Australasia EPD.
From this table, you can see that Dimond Roofing can offer a best in class solution for New Zealand with the MagnaFlow® range.
Download the ColorCote Environmental Product Declaration (EDP)
Global GreenTag™ GreenRate™ Level A
Following the launch of the ColorCote Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), Dimond searched the world for a premium eco-label. We decided to work with Global GreenTag™ and engage with them to achieve their internationally recognised GreenTag™ certification.
Dimond chose the Global GreenTag as we were impressed with the depth and breadth of assessment that they demanded, giving us confidence that we were achieving a robust and well-recognised certification.
Global GreenTag compares products and services against a global benchmark for the entire supply chain and this approach really forced us to look at ourselves, and our suppliers, from the point of taking the ore from the ground through to delivery of products to our customers.
We worked intimately with all of our suppliers upstream in what was an exhaustive process over 12 months before presenting our case for certification to Global GreenTag.
Ultimately, Dimond was immensely pleased to be awarded the premium GreenRate Level A certification on all ColorCote roll-formed roofing products.
Global GreenTag GreenRate is also recognised by the New Zealand Green Building Council for credits under their Homestar and Green Star schemes. As our certificate is the premium “Level A” ecolabel it, therefore, attracts the maximum points.
For residential environment (Homestar) this means the following for MAT-1
- A maximum of 2 points if the roof is 50% clad in ColorCote product, AND
- A maximum of 2 points if the walls are 50% clad in ColorCote product.
However, Global GreenTag is more than just energy data collection. It involves a full audit of Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) practices of not just Dimond but our entire supply chain as well as compliance to international supply legislation, child-labour policies, and residual toxicity measurement. It is the only ecolabel in New Zealand that directly complies with the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:
As part of this process, Dimond introduced New Zealand’s first complete cradle-to-grave stewardship programme for its products, where we will accept used Dimond Roofing product at the end of its life, to facilitate proper recycling of the product.
Below is a brochure further explaining the Dimond GreenTag Certification, and the links for the various GreenTag Certificates for the ColorCote range
Fletcher Steel Toitū Carbonreduce
In late December 2019, Fletcher Steel was the first steel distributor to achieve carbonreduce™ certification. Fletcher Steel meets the criteria of Toitū carbonreduce™ certification having independently audited its greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with ISO 14064-1:2006 and has committed to managing and reducing its emissions in respect of the operational activities of its organisation, Dimond is a member of the Fletcher Steel family of businesses.
carbonreduce™ is a programme, audited by Toitū Envirocare, which helps businesses accurately measure their Scope 1 & Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions, along with the addition of the significant Scope 3 emissions from suppliers of air travel, waste sent to landfill, and freight.
This certification scheme is world-leading with companies from the United Kingdom and Europe using this process to account for their emissions.
Our Goal - 30 by 30
Addressing climate change is a huge challenge we face globally. For this reason, Fletcher Building have committed to achieving a 30% reduction in our scope 1 (direct) and scope 2 (indirect) carbon emissions by 2030.
This target is based on keeping global temperature rise well below two degrees Celsius.
Our target is verified by the Science-Based Targets initiative, a recognised international third-party verification body, and in line with the goals set in the Paris agreement.
As a Fletcher Building company, Dimond has also committed to meet this goal.
One of the significant emission sources Dimond has identified is from not us, but from our freight providers transporting product on our behalf. We are now capturing details (hours, diesel consumed, kilometres travelled etc.) from all providers and we are building a data model of our impact across New Zealand. It has already identified opportunities to reduce emissions and cost.
Taking Leadership
Dimond has undertaken a massive amount of work in the past two years around sustainability and product development and we feel that we’re now in a position to take on a leadership role in the metal roofing industry, particularly as conversations continue around upcoming changes to the Building Code. We are very enthusiastic about being a part of those discussions.
Dimond Roofing is a foundation member of the Sustainable Steel Council of New Zealand and is actively involved in its role as a board member. We are also a member of the New Zealand Green Building Council.
We have been heartened by the feedback received from the industry and from our partners throughout this journey and now, especially with Toitū accreditation, are looking at implementing further carbon reduction measures.
What this means for our customers
For specifiers, installers and consumers, providing and having access to sustainably certified product options are becoming essential.
Accreditation of both the products we sell and the materials we use gives our customers peace of mind that when they are installing—and specifying—Dimond Roofing products, they are using leading sustainable roofing products that have passed all the requirements needed to achieve these premium environmental accreditations.
ColorCote’s MagnaFlow™product, when supplied by Dimond Roofing, is proven to be New Zealand’s 'best in class’ sustainable roofing solution.
Additionally, throughout the various accreditation processes undertaken, Dimond was able to identify opportunities to reduce costs, be more efficient and reduce water and energy consumption, as well as introduce initiatives that are designed to allow us to get continually better in these areas.
This entire journey has influenced who Dimond choose to work with and to what level that interaction will take place. Dimond is committed to instituting environmental principles as a cornerstone of our business and believes that our customers will reap the rewards of that commitment.
