Sustainable Construction and Green Engineering
Construction projects have to find the right balance between maximising value and minimising impact, particularly with regard to the environment. From ground stabilisation to wall systems, Tensar Technology has always been about finding the most efficient design solutions. And as the most efficient, these not only reduce financial costs but also inherently reduce environmental damage.
How Tensar can benefit everyone
There are a number of ways by which Tensar’s products and systems can bring sustainability benefits to any project:
Minimising waste : Tensar Wall Systems can use secondary fills such as colliery waste or pulverised fuel ash and Tensar’s Slope Systems can generally use site-won material as fill. Tensar’s ground stabilisation systems not only reduce the depth of the aggregate layer by up to 50%, as well as frequently reducing the amount of spoil to be excavated and disposed of, but can also use recycled aggregates. Tensar Spectra systems enable pavement designs to be optimized using a mechanically stabilized layer to increase stiffness of the pavement enabling reductions in aggregate and asphalt layer thickness or offer a major increase in pavement life.
Carbon Reduction and Energy Efficiency: Traditional construction materials such as concrete, steel and lime require significant amounts of energy with embodied carbon to produce. Mechanical stabilization over soft ground and reinforced soil structures require comparatively less energy than conventional solutions. When compared to a traditional concrete building, for instance, a typical Tensar Earth Retaining Structure can be constructed at one third of the energy cost. Bitumen also has high embodied carbon and energy and asphalt reinforcement systems which prolong the life of asphalt pavements can contribute to the overall sustainability of a road.
Conserving water resources: Tensar products and solutions can form a crucial part of the latest Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems, with ground stabilisation geogrids for the foundation layers of permeable pavements systems and Tensar Erosion Mat for protection in swales. For remote projects, such as wind farms, ‘floating’ access roads can reduce the effect on the hydrology of sensitive peat landscapes. Tensar’s products are chemically inert and will not adversely affect the natural water cycle.
Minimising impact on the local environment: By reducing vehicle movements, fewer trucks are needed to go through countryside or towns; Tensar systems encourage the use of natural vegetation rather than hard engineering finishes