About Us - Good, Green Things!

About Us – reducing our environmental impact

When we started the business in the 1990s, our core principle was to produce high quality traditional building materials with minimal environmental and health impacts (long before it was fashionable). More than thirty years on, this still continues to guide us: in fact, look out for our new hemp building blocks in 2025 – these are a radical alternative to traditional [concrete] breeze blocks, with a far lower environmental impact…greening up the construction industry!

At Ty-Mawr we work and live by the principles that we believe will create a better future whilst striving to provide advice and products to our clients that will help them to reduce their own environmental impact and that of their buildings - and to be part of the change we all wish to see in the world. As always, this remains an ongoing motivation for our business (and for our customers).

Our environmental achievements over the years include:

• We continually monitor electricity, gas, water and diesel consumption across our sites – it might be unglamorous, but it is crucial for identifying opportunities to make meaningful reductions in our carbon emissions. We commissioned an energy audit of our offices and warehouses, which is guiding our investment in energy efficiency (e.g. upgrading our office LED lighting). The large solar array on our Brecon warehouse is closely monitored to ensure it is operating as efficiently as possible – even more important given our recent investment in a second electric forklift (in addition to our electric car).
• For the restoration of the Ty-Mawr site, we have sourced all of the materials as locally as we possibly can e.g. Welsh slate, our own timber, Welsh wool insulation etc. minimising the road miles of building products as well as supporting the rural economy. To maximise the building’s energy efficiency, we installed our own warm roof, sublime limecrete floors with underfloor heating, and internal wall insulation systems.
• We have replaced the aging oil boilers with a biomass/woodchip boiler which heats the house, offices and training centre (saving at least 40 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per annum). This is supplemented by a solar thermal system for hot water production.
• We installed rainwater harvesting for our training centre and a sophisticated system on the manufacturing yard to capture and reuse rain-water – our mortars and plasters are made with pure rainwater!
• We look closely at the environmental implications of the products we use: from the tea we drink to the paper we use, to the cleaning products we choose.
• We use local and British raw materials where we can - lime, wool, hemp, wood, sands, and pigments, and these products carry the Made in Britain award
• We do import products where they are not made in the UK (e.g. hydraulic limes, wood wool boards, woodfibre boards, cork boards, recycled foamed glass and our mineral-based paints) – but with all of our suppliers, we ensure that they have the highest quality standards and environmental credentials. We also prefer to support other small and family businesses as opposed to multinationals.
• We insist on knowing exactly what our products contain and supply the full declaration of all constituents and where they are sourced.
• We employ local people and use local hauliers, caterers, gardeners, contractors, trainers - in fact, we spend the majority of our gross income within a 50-mile radius, an important contribution towards creating a sustainable community.
• We were part of the Welsh Government's Workforce Development Programme; this saw us complete a staff engagement project with Corporate Instinct showing our commitment to looking after and developing our small team - giving them job satisfaction and ensuring that our clients get the best possible advice, product and service.
• We have re-established the traditional Kitchen garden on the Ty-Mawr site to provide food for our family but also for course delegates and those hiring our training venue.
• We have been awarded the Ethical Award and an All-Parliamentary Corporate Social Responsibility. We also received two awards at The Sustain Wales Awards: the first as runner up in the 'Sustainable Business' category, the second being the 'Special Recognition Award' awarded by Cynnal Cymru in recognition of the outstanding contribution made by individuals to sustainability in Wales. This was awarded to Nigel and Joyce for "sustained effort to a make a cleaner, greener, safer, healthier and more equitable world today and for future generations".
• We received a biodiversity award in 2007 for the work that we have done to the surrounding land (in which the main business is located) – we have reinstated the old pond and kitchen garden, replanted old orchards (and planted a new orchard of 47 trees – all local varieties), reinstated hedges, stone walls and ditches and planted 100s of indigenous oak, cherry, ash, rowan and chestnut trees. For the millennium, we sent 2,000 clients an oak or cherry tree to plant (and get various updates about their progress!). We have recently installed swift boxes on our Brecon warehouses, and a swift caller to attract them.
   

Our thoughts on packaging…

We have to meet minimum packaging standards for hauliers (otherwise goods cannot be put into their system), which is also essential to ensure goods arrive safely and in perfect condition. That said, we continually review our packaging choices and systems to identify ways to reduce packaging amounts and minimise the use of plastics, whilst also being easily recycled at the end of their life. This includes:

• Reusing cardboard and plastic wrapping whenever practicable
• Purchasing plastic wrap made from recycled plastics (this can in turn be recycled – sometimes in your local Sainsbury’s/Tesco/Co-op)
• Using our shredded paper for packing
• Our cardboard boxes and fitments, plastic bags and buckets, as well as paint tins, can all be reused and then recycled at the end of their useful life

More widely, plastics continue to be an issue across the construction industry (and beyond). We have invested in a baling machine, which allows old plastic wrapping and damaged bulk bags to be separated and collected for reprocessing into garden furniture. Work continues to find suppliers who can offer us a viable alternative to plastic wrap that is of similar quality/strength and is easily recycled.