Sustainability

Sustainability

Looking after the Environment

Looking after the Environment

Here at Passmores we all acknowledge that we have a duty to minimise our impact on the environment when creating our timber buildings. We look constantly for ways to reduce our carbon footprint, cut down on waste and avoid the use of harmful chemicals.

It's not easy being green but we work hard at it and we are succeeding in nearly every area of our business, from our delivery vehicles to the way that we heat our factory.

Plastic packaging is the modern day scourge and we make every effort to minimise the amount used in our processes. Building components for our timber garages, carriage houses, open barns, sports pavilions, garden sheds and garden buildings are delivered unwrapped and protective sheeting re-used or recycled. Our suppliers have to meet exacting packaging standards. We bulk buy to avoid blister packed or shrink wrapped materials or subassemblies.

Energy Conservation

What we once considered waste is now the fuel that heats our factory. We turn our wood waste into energy by reducing scrap timber and offcuts into chippings which are fed into an automatic system which produces warm air to heat the factory. This was developed for Passmores by Ranheat Engineering Limited, and is believed to be the first of a new generation of environmentally friendly heating systems.The impact of this is twofold. It saves us 3,000 litres of heating oil a month during winter. And it means 40 cubic metres of wood waste is no longer going to landfill each month.It's a process that not only helps the environment, it saves money, helping us to keep prices down.

Transport can be a major polluter. But Passmores modern fleet of delivery vehicles all meet the exacting Euro Five or Six Emissions Standard. All the trucks are fitted with speed limiters, keeping down fuel consumption and emissions and our delivery staff are trained to drive with the utmost responsibility.

Source of Timber

Source of Timber

Virtually all our timber comes from the forests of Northern Sweden. In the main, it arrives by ship directly to the Port of Rochester on the RIver Medway, which flows just a few yards from our headquarters. This avoids long distance lorry journeys and the resulting pollution.

Forest management in Sweden meets the most exacting bio-diversity standards and our principle supplier, Stenvalls Trä AB, www.stenvalls.se is as careful of the environment as any forestry company in Scandinavia

For every tree harvested, two are planted, ensuring forests are never depleted and will continue to produce timber long into the future.

Managed Forests are the most efficient carbon sinks and producers of oxygen. The ongoing process of harvesting and replanting ensures there is always a healthy share of the forest made up of younger trees in vigorous growth.

Timber is the only truly renewable construction material on the planet. For every tonne of the greenhouse gas (CO2) a tree absorbs from the atmosphere it produces nearly ¾ of a tonne of oxygen.

The CO2 absorbed by the tree during its life is trapped, or stored within the wood and remains so throughout the life of the product.

When harvested, timber requires far less energy to produce and build with than any other construction materials. Using wood instead of other building materials saves an average of 0.9 tonnes of CO2 per cubic metre.

For more information about timber visit www.woodforgood.com

FSC Chain of Custody

FSC Chain of Custody

Passmores are one of very few timber building manufacturers in the UK to have achieved certification under the Forest Stewardship Council® Chain of Custody scheme (FSC® License Code FSC-C013961). Look for our FSC®-certified products.

Strict systems of control mean that the FSC timber we buy can be traced back through the supply chain to FSC certified forests.

FSC certification means that the forest of origin has been independently inspected and evaluated according to strict environmental, social and economic principles and criteria as laid down by the Forest Stewardship Council A.C.

Our Passmores certificate confirms that we source timber, manufacture products and sell our goods in accordance with FSC standard 40-004 (Chain of Custody).

The FSC label is recognised worldwide and is endorsed by environmental charities including WWF, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and the Woodland Trust.

By using FSC timber, Passmores and therefore our customers are supporting better management of the world's forests.

To visit the FSC website, click on www.fsc.org