Company Description:
Roadstone Dublin Ltd. (RDL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of CRH plc. Roadstone is a progressive manufacturer and supplier of a comprehensive range of high quality building materials and products for the construction industry in Ireland. CRH plc is one of the top five in the building materials sector worldwide and has operations in 32 countries, with over 3,600 locations and 92,000 employees.
Business Issue:
It is a key part of Roadstone’s and CRH’s environmental policies to conserve resources by making efficient use of energy and raw materials. RDL has company-wide accreditation of its environmental management system to ISO 14001 and it pioneered a formalised energy management system in line with the recently developed IS 393 Energy Management Standard. Energy is a significant issue for Roadstone, both as an environmental issue and as a business cost.
Solution Applied:
Slane Quarry was chosen as a pilot location for a formalised energy management system as operations there are typical of Roadstone locations. RDL joined the Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) Energy Agreement Programme and is committed to the strongest and most rigorous approach to energy management by developing IS 393 and implementing special investigations to continually develop new energy efficient opportunities. SEI, a government agency for the promotion and development of sustainable energy, carried out a gap analysis of existing systems at the quarry. Following this, a team responsible for implementing the energy management system was appointed. A Register of Energy Aspects was completed to assess each energy-using item at the location. This was backed up by energy monitoring, for example monitoring data from sub-meters and fuel flow meters on the blacktop plants. Along with other required documentation, standard operating procedures for the energy management system were created and key performance indicators set out. During development and implementation of the system, meetings were held on a monthly basis and progress reports were delivered to management.
Company Benefits:
Stakeholder Benefits:
Challenges:
Being the first quarry in Ireland to attain the certification, the location had to develop complex specific documentation, much of which was difficult to write and was time consuming. Initially, it had been planned for the IS 393 system to function within ISO 14001 but it was not possible due to the complexity of auditing an integrated system as it was being developed.
Tip:
Departments Involved:
In developing the system, the Environment and Engineering departments were key; and in implementing the system, all departments and all staff were involved
Solution Champion:
Kevin Donovan, Environmental Manager, kdonovan@roadstone.ie and Naomi Cooper, Group Environmental Officer, CRH plc, ncooper@crh.com
Year
2008