Sustainability

Low Carbon Foundations
Carbon Zero Pathway

Low Carbon Foundations.

Screw Piles Replace Concrete.

FLI produce screw pile foundation solutions for supporting telecoms towers, railway gantries, motorway signage, bridges and radar towers.
Screw piles are a more sustainable alternative to traditional mass concrete, delivering significant environmental advantages:

Easily removed and fully recycled at end of life.
No excavation or cart away.
Smaller installation footprint and minimal ground disturbance reduces on-site environmental impact.
Faster installation, so reduced site and plant time.
Lighter plant required on site.
No chemicals in the ground.
Fewer deliveries, reducing mess on roads and noise around the site
No vibration, so the impact on sensitive buildings is low.

81% reduction in CO2 footprint over mass concrete tower foundation.

Screw piles with a steel grillage offer a huge carbon saving over traditional concrete raft foundations, on both material and installation.
81% is a very significant saving...How is this achieved?

The 81% example is for the foundation for a 30m ATS1301 tower.
Assumptions:
That concrete and spoil lorries have a 25 mile journey.
That the concrete raft will not be removed at end of life (subsequent development almost always leaves them in place).
That the steel will be recycled in an electric arc furnace (the new industry standard).

99% of structural steel sections are recovered and recycled.
Unlike a mass concrete foundation which can only be downcycled in an Open Loop system, a steel grillage will be truly recycled. Unlike driven piles, screw piles are easily unscrewed from the ground even more quickly than they went in.

The reycling of embodied carbon is where most of the saving is made. However, with no spoil away, fewer HGVs to site and fewer days on site, the installation process itself also delivers a 68% C02 saving over a mass concrete solution.

Zero Concrete Foundation - Removable, Reusable and Fully Recyclable.

Kittiwake Nesting Tower in Gateshead.

More sustainable than concrete, a screw pile and grillage foundation was used for this kittiwake nesting tower in Gateshead, built as environmental mitigation for the Hornsea Offshore Windfarm project.
The foundation piles and grillage were completely installed in less than a week, with the tower build starting immediately after, without having to leave the site and wait for concrete to cure.
Using screw piles is particularly beneficial for this project, as the entire tower and foundation can be unscrewed from the ground and moved to another site if required. Without needing a new foundation or leaving mass concrete on site.

Kittiwake Information

Extending the Lifespan Of Steel Structures lowers the C02 footprint of tower networks.

Some older and otherwise structurally sound telecoms towers are now corroding at the point where they connect to their concrete foundations. FLI has developed a suite of bypass solutions (patent pending) which are being installed across the country, enabling thousands of towers to remain in use and fulfil or in many cases, exceed their design lives. FLI has introduced small, lightweight, hand installed products adding decades to the working lives of existing concrete foundations and steel structures.

Bypass Solutions

FLI offers a design service carrying out Global Design Checks on existing structures. With the engineering expertise to extend the life of existing structures via strengthening and repairing solutions. FLI also checks that existing structures can take additional loading, avoiding the need for a replacement tower.
New structures and bolts are galvanised with increased coating thicknesses compared to the standard, which extends their service lives.

GDC Portal

Material Reduction

In partnership with Colas, FLI engaged with Network Rail’s ‘Minimum Viable Product’ programme. Working on LOC platforms, FLI reduced the platform material weight by 46% and the number of parts by 55%. Combined with a screw pile foundation, the entire foundation and LOC platform can now be installed in a single shift.
For larger multiple LOC platforms, FLI’s unique design, balancing the performance of the platform and piles and treating the installation as a system, means that FLI can halve the number of foundation support points required. For example, a triple LOC requires 4 piles and not 8. Further emissions savings can be made with the platform foundation by using FLI’s hand install steel foundation, removing the need to deploy plant to site and for line possessions that disrupt the network. Also, the platform itself can be installed by hand.

Minimum Viable Product

Carbon Zero Pathway

Scope 1

Scope 1 covers emissions from sources that the Company owns or controls directly – for example from burning fuel for its fleet of vehicles (where they’re not electrically-powered).

FLI is purchasing electric vehicles, as a rolling programme all vans, cars and material handling vehicles are being replaced with EVs and associated charging points which are also available to employees.

FLI recycles everything from steel wastage in production, right down to kitchen waste and wherever possible replaces disposable with re-usable.

FLI’s overall recycling rate has been established at over 95% for many years.

Scope 2

Scope 2 refers to indirect emissions associated with energy used by the company and typically occur at the point of generation.

FLI’s 2022 Carbon Baseline for Scope 2:

Electricity C02 footprint: 56,062Kg C02e - 30% of total Scope 1 & 2 footprint.
Since that baseline was set, extensive solar panels have been fitted on the roof areas, which in their first year have generated 70% of the electricity used by the Company. With a 30% shortfall, solar array canopies are now being designed, for installation across the staff car park and on the material racks, with the aim of reaching a 100% generation rate or more.

Gas C02 footprint: 74,750Kg C02e - 40% of total Scope 1&2 footprint.
This gas is used for space heating. With the Net Zero Road Map target in 2027 to achieve, FLI is currently exploring heat pump installation, green gas tariffs and air destratification systems.

Scope 3

Scope 3 encompasses emissions that are not produced by the company itself and are not the result of activities from assets owned or controlled by FLI, but by other companies up and down the value chain.

Embodied Carbon In Steel.
Steel purchased for production, is the company’s primary source of Scope 3 emissions. There are two ways to bring about significant improvements to embodied carbon in steel:

Sourcing Steel Produced By Electric Arc Furnaces.
EAF furnaces reduce emissions by over 75% against traditional blast furnaces, with most of the remaining 25% available for removal by using renewable energy. The UK is now beginning to see EAF production coming on-line. As soon as supply becomes more readily available FLI will be ready and able to utilise it.

Recycling What Previously Could Not Be Recycled.
Nearly all large section steel is already truly recycled (re-used at its original specification), whereas hardly any foundations are (at best, concrete is crushed for scalpings, which in itself uses energy). FLI’s steel screw piles can be unscrewed from the ground, enabling foundations to be fully recycled and the embodied carbon offset against future usage.

FLI's Sustainability Targets

An annual minimum reduction of 10% of Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, from the 2022 baseline, as KgC02e per tonne of installed product, until zero is reached.
Labour reduction of 5% per annum across all teams.
Genrating enough energy to match or exceed usage.
Maintain recycling rates of 95% for all waste produced in our operations and review.

FLI’s sustainability commitments

Conduct business using methods to prevent and reduce environmental impact, to comply with relevant legislation.
Be dedicated to continually improving FLI’s performance to help protect the environment.
Create awareness and staff engagement in new initiatives to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.
Continue to benchmark energy consumption and resource use.
Enhance FLI’s local community through employment, procurement and supporting projects.
Promote and influence the use of more sustainable suppliers and transport options through regular dialogue.

Blog Post:
Environmental Benefits of Screw Piles.