The annual industry awards event, held at the Park Plaza Hotel, Westminster Bridge, recognises the people and businesses at the forefront of improving new and existing buildings, including outstanding design, innovation, and energy efficiency.
We triumphed in the competitive Manufacturer and Supplier Embodied Carbon category, which recognises exceptional contributions to understanding and reducing embodied carbon in building services.
Embodied carbon is now acknowledged as a major contributor to global carbon emissions and warming, and it must be addressed, alongside operational carbon, if the UK is to meet its net-zero carbon ambitions.
We are at the forefront of the measurement and reduction of embodied carbon in M&E, reimagining its commercial lighting design, manufacturing and services according to the principles of circularity.
The award-winning submission was led by Category Manager Tim Bowes, who said:
“I’m absolutely thrilled that Whitecroft has won a 2024 CIBSE Award in recognition of our work around tackling embodied carbon.
“Embodied carbon is a critical issue in the built environment, and increasingly important to our customers, and in recent years, Whitecroft has made a significant investment in measuring and reducing these emissions.
“This has included securing third-party validated Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) on our lighting, redesigning products to promote the ongoing reduction and reuse of materials such as plastics, and proactively seeking ways to use more existing building and lighting infrastructure in our installations”.
Tim concludes: “Thank you to CIBSE and the judges, congratulations to all our fellow winners on the night, and huge well done to everyone at Whitecroft for making this fantastic award a reality.”
Tim was joined at the awards by our Marketing and Product Director Matt Paskin, Marketing Manager Marcelina Fila, Product Manager Associate Iga Jakubczyk and Strategic Account Manager Amanda Rushby.
The Embodied Carbon Award category was open to UK or international businesses that consult on, manufacture or supply building services products, components and systems that help to reduce embodied carbon.
Our cradle-to-cradle (C2C) approach to designing its products impressed the judges, as did its use of modularity to enable more efficient maintenance of products and reduce waste.
We provided clear evidence of its efforts to reduce embodied carbon in its products, the judges added. For example, Whitecroft's Cascade Flex Vitality (CFV) flat panel luminaire now contains 67% less plastic and includes a replaceable central cartridge that can be refurbished and reused multiple times.
We have calculated that the CFV delivers a 46% embodied carbon reduction over a 40-year life span compared with a standard 600x600 recessed flat panel.
Working with our supply chain, we are reducing upfront embodied carbon by increasing the use of recycled materials and, where possible, working with local suppliers. The pods for the CFV, for instance, are made in Oldham, less than five miles from our factory, reducing transportation miles.
With the launch of Vitality Relight, we are seeking to reduce waste and emissions by reusing existing building materials and infrastructure.
Whitecroft Vitality was the first light fitting in the UK to be C2C accredited, and this certification delivered data that allowed Whitecroft to develop its first Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). It now has EPDs for seven of the eight products in its Vitality range.
The judges also commended us for our engagement activities within the industry. Its two CIBSE-accredited CPDs on the circular economy have been delivered to 250-300 customers over the past three years, and we have recently published our updated sustainability guide, Lighting Solutions to meet your sustainability ambitions.
“Whitecroft Lighting has collaborated with the Society of Light and Lighting and CIBSE on TM66 and is a member of The LCA Incubator Project, as well as a task group member for BS8887-221 Remanufacture of luminaires."
Circularity principles and awareness of end-of-life-associated emissions were key themes of this year’s entries. Efforts by manufacturers to understand the supply chain and provide accreditation for their products impressed the judges, who were complimentary about the overall standard of submissions.
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