The building uses as few sustainable materials as possible, among them our Textured Oak two-strip hardwood flooring. The structure is based on simple tectonic principles , completed with mechanical joints only. As far as possible, building materials used in the construction are not mixed, reducing the volume of waste considerably in comparison to similar constructions.

Located in a part of the harbour which is part of the city’s climate adaption strategy, the Taphouse is designed to function as a visitors’ centre from nearby Braunstein Brewery over the next decade. Then, depending on rising sea levels, it may have to be removed or moved to a different location. To accommodate the possibly temporary lifespan, the building has been ‘designed for disassembly’. It can be taken apart and rebuilt relatively easily, or all materials can be recycled.

The building houses both a cafe and a restaurant as well as large event spaces that can be used for private events or by local community groups. The brushed, tactile surface of our Textured Oak floorboards forms part of a limited material palette, where both interior and exterior have strong maritime influences. The juxtaposition of steel, accoya and solid hardwood in a rustic finish all contribute to an industrial look, perfectly at home in the harbour.

Committed to offering full environmental credentials, Junckers has completed EPDs for its solid hardwood flooring, the company is PEFC and FSC® accredited, certified by the Danish Indoor Climate Label and has an A+ BREEAM rating.

Junckers 140mm Textured Nordic Oak Classic flooring clads the treads and risers of the imposing staircase in the triple height courtyard, as well as providing a hard-wearing floor surface for seating areas.

Did you know that our oak flooring promotes a healthy indoor climate? All-natural, solid hardwood is free of chemical substances which adversely affect indoor air quality. We’ve also completed EPDs for all our floors to make it even easier to specify our floors for sustainable and net zero carbon projects.

Over the last fifteen years there has been a marked increase in the popularity of underfloor heating in the UK. As an efficient and cost-effective heating system, underfloor heating is very often specified for new build projects and multi-unit developments, but also increasingly in large public spaces and even sports halls.

The historical unpopularity of UFH was largely because of relatively poor standards of thermal insulation. This made it difficult to achieve a uniform level of heat within the space, which gave occupants the feeling that they were standing on a hot floor, but the air above was uncomfortably cool. In recent years numerous changes to Building Regulations have improved thermal insulation and heating efficiency, and this has opened the door for UFH suppliers to offer a very comfortable form of heating with little change in the warmth of the air within the occupant’s zone, where you are largely unaware that the floor itself is heated. In modern buildings UFH provides a very comfortable, reliable and efficient form of heat, and frees up wall space that would otherwise be taken up by radiators or heating units.

There is a wide choice of underfloor heating systems available, suitable for new build, refurbishment, different types of sub floor and a wide variety of floor finishes.

Solid hardwood is an excellent choice for use with underfloor heating. Junckers is a solid wood floor manufacturer with a track record of over 30 years of partnering with UFH, and we have seen a very positive change in perception with regards to using our product in this way. For some time, there was a common misconception in the industry that UFH systems could not be used with solid hardwood floors, indeed there are still many on the market that cannot. As the only solid wood floor product guaranteed for use with UFH at the time it was difficult for Junckers to gain recognition in a crowded market. This led to a widely held belief that contractors and specifiers had to compromise on quality and settle for an engineered board. In fact, we are now finding that not all engineered boards are suitable.

It is important to look for a manufacturer’s guarantee when specifying solid wood flooring. It is only through careful product design and research and stringent quality control measures that Junckers Ltd is able to offer a 25-year guarantee on their solid wood floors when used with UFH.

Today, there is more understanding around what makes a timber floor suitable for use with underfloor heating. Floors with a low and stable moisture content, guarded by tight production and quality controls, offer an all-natural flooring surface with both hot water and electric systems. A solid wood floor conducts heat well so offers a fast response time and acts as an efficient and even source of radiant heat.

There are few types of UFH that cannot be used with hardwood floors. Pipes or electric cables buried in a screed can be overlaid with a floating floor or one which can be glued to the screed. Hot water pipes can be suspended between timber joists or battens and heating manufacturers have devised various ways of doing this so the pipe will be as close as possible to the underside of the floorboard for maximum efficiency. Even sprung sports and activity floors are commonly fitted with hot water UFH and here the pipes are suspended between the battens, so they move in sympathy with the floor when it is under load. Modern pipe materials are flexible, very strong and reliable and often have shielding in them to prevent migration of gases through the wall of the pipe. Connectors and fittings have extremely good reliability and will often carry a long-term manufacturer’s guarantee.

Contractors, specifiers and end users are increasingly concerned with sustainability and moving towards achieving net zero carbon buildings, where energy efficiency and longevity are key players. UFH, when powered by an efficient boiler (which will ideally use a “green” energy source) can provide beneficial low levels of operational carbon and when partnered with a low carbon, sustainable solid hardwood floor that can last in excess of 60 years the resulting low embodied carbon levels will be very attractive to designers and clients alike.

Already established as one of the most long-lasting flooring options there are, hardwood flooring has emerged as the safest long-term choice alongside underfloor heating.

This article first appeared in Contract Flooring Journal January 2021

Have a question about installing underfloor heating with wooden floors? Contact Richard on RIA@junckers.com

Scotland’s oldest purpose-built concert hall, Category A listed St Cecilia’s Hall dates back to 1763. The original concert room has been restored to its former glory and the gallery spaces have been modernised to house the University’s world-class collection of historic musical instruments, brought together under the same roof for the first time.

To provide the ancillary facilities needed in a modern-day museum, Page Park Architects created a new, modern entrance with improved and updated walkways and circulation areas. Drawing inspiration from the original dark-coloured flooring in the building, the architects specified Junckers’ 140mm wide Black Oak Harmony as flooring and wall panelling in the new areas.

In addition, Junckers’ Dark Coco Rustic Oil was used to restore the rich, brown colour of the original wood flooring in the concert room and gallery spaces. The elegant, elliptical shaped room has been in continuous use since the eighteenth century. It holds audiences of up to 200 people, the perfect size and setting for performances on the musical instruments of the collection.

Junckers products have excellent environmental credentials and the purpose of this bulletin is to highlight the accreditations that we have for our products, and to summarise the information that is available when Junckers floors are being specified.
 
Low or net-zero carbon building design is here to stay and whatever your involvement in the design and supply process you can help your business by being up to speed with this fast developing area of the construction industry.
 
A major crisis such as COVID-19 might divert attention from environmental matters, but we think the opposite is happening because the virus is resulting in closer scrutiny of our relationship with the natural environment.
 
Originally the preserve of clients and their designers, environmental building design now includes the whole supply chain; contractors play a vital role in the design process and need to have sources of environmental information to help them win the work.

The Drivers for Change
There are several main reasons why we are heading this way…

• Client Demands
• RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge, “Architects Declare” and other similar schemes
• Government Environmental Targets
• Public pressure, campaign groups, and from media reporting

This will lead to tighter rules about what materials can be brought on to site, more requests for product certification and restrictions on pollution and waste disposal. We receive more questions in increasing levels of detail about what is ultimately being delivered to the client.

How Junckers Proves its Environmental Credentials – Junckers floors have low embodied carbon, are environmentally sound, represent no landfill burden, are fully recyclable, safe to dispose of, and no carbon offsetting is needed. – EPD – Environmental Product Declaration Scientific report that shows the embodied carbon levels in Junckers floors. – BRE Green Guide Junckers floors are A+ rated. – Danish Indoor Climate Certificate – this measures the emissions of various VOCs including formaldehyde and shows that Junckers floors are very beneficial to the indoor environment. – FSC® and PEFC Certification – proves the timber we use is from legal and sustainable sources. – ISO 140001 Independent accreditation for the company’s environmental management systems. – CDPH Certificate. California Department of Public Health Assessment of VOC emissions from the floor. Widespread recognition beyond the US and plays a key part in BREEAM and WELL assessments. – CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility scheme to show Junckers is a responsible member of the business and social community. As an element of this Junckers has signed up to the UN Global Compact.

We are happy to provide copies of relevant documents and certificates and to talk about any project specific environmental and product issues that you need to discuss.

For more information contact

Richard Aylen
Technical Manager
Mail: RIA@junckers.com
Phone: + 44 (0)1376 534 729

1. Natural light – making the most of natural light is a central feature in all Scandinavian homes. This house uses large windows and glass doors with an abundance of light flooding through as well as offering an uninterrupted view of nature.
2. A classic, neutral backdrop – walls and ceilings in light, brightening shades, part of a pared back, limited colour palette. This is a look you’ll never tire of, a truly peaceful environment that won’t date.
3. Natural materials – wood, stone, rattan, jute and wool – natural materials always have a place in Danish homes. All natural materials will enhance the indoor environment, contributing to better acoustics, helping keep a more even temperature in a home and ensuring no harmful chemicals pollute the air we breathe.

The house has been fitted throughout with our solid Oak Variation plank flooring. The expressive and lively grain pattern in our Variation grade adds a rich, visual texture to the space, a pattern that occurs naturally in the timber.

A solid wood floor from Junckers has a perfectly smooth surface which cannot harbour dust or mites, making it a hygienic and healthy choice. A solid wood floor in a lighter colour will also reflect a lot of natural light and therefore plays a part in enhancing lighting levels to reduce the need for artificial light, saving energy. A floor in a lighter colour will absorb less heat and in this way works to prevent the ‘greenhouse effect’ very dark floors can cause. A naturally stable material such as solid wood will inhibit overheating, which means there is much less reliance, if any at all, on air condition systems.

Harnessing natural light, maintaining an even temperature in a building to prevent overheating and specifying materials low in VOCs and formaldehyde form a central part in the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge, an incentive to move towards net zero carbon buildings.

All Junckers floors hold the Danish Indoor Climate label and have undergone extensive degassing and odour testing to ensure there are no chemical substances in the flooring which adversely affect the air quality in a room. Junckers also complies with REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals), an EU legislation. The objective of the REACH regulation is to implement a high level of protection for human health and the environment. Find out more about our indoor climate certification here

The more Karen researched the project, the more she understood there was a huge gap in the market for wellness and wellbeing not only for people living with disabilities, but for their carers, care workers, siblings and families. She realised that with a fit-for-purpose, dedicated venue she would be able to offer a constant, regular programme of activities so urgently needed.

In March last year, Karen began raising funds to build Senses Wellbeing Centre. After her National Lottery Fund application was rejected, she turned to the local community and through an enormous amount of hard work and good will enough funds were raised to start building. A local builder was engaged, materials were bought and paid for, contractors lined up, but no sooner had the project got started when the Coronavirus struck, and lockdown was imposed. Work ground to a halt as the whole country shut down.

Then once again, Karen experienced how the community around her pulled together, sharing her determination and willing the project forward. Her team of builders were able to work in a safe manner following social distancing regulations and the build started to take shape. Nearing completion, the building was ready to have the flooring installed. Having already bought the floor, a sprung wood floor from Junckers, and engaged a professional fitter to install it, Karen rang the company to arrange delivery and set a date. Unanswered phone call after unanswered phone call and countless unreturned messages later, Karen discovered the company had gone into receivership, taking the flooring for Senses Wellbeing Centre and the fee to install it with them.

Heartbroken to be stopped dead in her tracks yet again, especially as her local community had raised every single penny to build and fit out the centre, Karen had the thought to contact Junckers directly. After explaining her story, Junckers UK’ General Manager David Papworth offered to supply the flooring Karen needed free of charge, and to help install it, Tommy Smith of Courtcraft, a specialist sports flooring installation company offered his company’s services free of charge.

Senses Wellbeing Centre, a multi-use venue where everyone is welcome, regardless of age and ability, opens its doors on 1 November 2020. The community now has a dedicated safe space where there are no barriers to joining in. A space offering fitness classes, holiday and after school clubs for people living with disability or dementia and their carers in a venue that’s fit for purpose for the next 20 years, at least.

Follow Karen’s journey at Senses Wellbeing Centre on Facebook: @Senseswellbeingcentre

To help Karen continue her fundraising to help her community prosper, contact her by email: karen@senseswellbeingcentre.co.uk

You can usually see the signs when a sports or activity floor has reached the end of its days – it may have borne all the repairs it possibly can, it could be unsafe to use or no longer be capable of taking the loads and impacts it once could. Managers of sports centres, dance studios and similar businesses will know the importance of offering a good quality floor to their clients in order to maintain income levels and bookings. But to achieve this the floor has to have good all-round performance, not just look good on the surface. Users of the floor can become dissatisfied because of what the floor does or doesn’t do, rather than just the way it looks, and it is these ”intangible” issues that I wanted to talk about here.

The floor is arguably the most important element in a sports or multi-purpose hall because it is the surface with which players have the closest interaction. They rely on it for safety and to allow them to perform to the best of their abilities – consistent ball bounce, not too slippery and not too much grip under foot, protection from impact injuries and reducing stress to joints and tendons. A comfortable floor will help athletes to achieve their best performance not only in competition, but when learning new skills, so it is not just at the top level that it is important to have a “proper” sports floor.

Assessing an activity floor for replacement should include questions such as; has there been a change of use? does it comply with current performance standards? have client needs changed? has there been deterioration of performance such as failure of the concealed load bearing or “sprung” components or irreversible changes to the surface friction?

Here are some of the main factors that can cause a floor to become obsolete or unsuitable:

Friction levels

Some types of floor, such as hardwood, can be refurbished and therefore offer a very long service life. Others are more limited in this respect, for example vinyl stuck to a timber deck.

Good maintenance procedures will often provide a cure for a slippery floor e.g. de-greasing the floor, applying a surface dressing or resealing if that sort of treatment is available. However, for some types of sports surfaces no post installation surface treatment is available. Synthetic floors such as vinyl and PU have a textured wear layer which may wear smooth over time, and when friction levels fall too low the floor system has to be replaced.

Shock Absorbency

Older sports floors may have hard, solid surfaces with no “spring” at all. These types include composite blocks, homogeneous vinyl to screed, asphalt and painted screed. Fortunately, these surfaces are becoming less common for sports and are gradually being replaced with more modern, healthier systems, usually Area Elastic floors which have a timber deck of some kind on a “sprung” support beneath. Public awareness is increasing; serious indoor athletes and most members of the public know that a sprung floor is more comfortable, safer and reduces injuries compared with a “concrete” surface. The performance standards for sports floors are currently defined by EN 14904 and many clients, including the education sector under the ESFA and any facilities that follow sports governing bodies design advice will ensure that their new floor complies. There is no statutory need to comply, but providers of sport and leisure facilities will be more exposed to claims for negligence if someone should be injured. For coaches, fitness instructors and elite athletes who spend long periods using the floor the need for a healthy surface is all the greater.

With some types of flooring the amount of “spring” can change over time. This should not happen with a good quality system and for some parts of the sports floor industry the learning process is ongoing. Modern sprung floors often use timber battens with plastic foam or rubber pads to provide shock absorption. Others may use a timber deck laid directly on a thick layer of foam. Some low cost sports systems use foams that do not recover their thickness under long term compression. This might happen if heavy equipment is stored in the same place, for example. It can lead to a floor that looks fine but when you jump on it you get a hard landing! Good quality foam or rubber pads and underlays will always recover after compression. With engineered/multi layered timber floors some invisible damage can happen over time, where the core material becomes weakened and the boards lose their stiffness. This can happen where the middle of the board is made from wooden “fingers” or lamellas, laid crosswise. Over time and from repeated impact, the glue between the lamellas can fail and the board will bend too much, leading to progressive deterioration of the floor, including excessive deflection of the surface, poor shock absorption and incorrect ball bounce.

Significant changes in the shock absorbency of the floor may be a symptom of a progressive problem.

Variable bounce

If the sprung performance of the floor should deteriorate this will more often happen in the areas subjected to the heaviest loads. This means that basketball players or five-a-side players will get a “dead bounce” in certain areas. It can also happen if someone jumps on the floor at the same time as the ball lands. Players at all levels will find this a nuisance but at club and elite level it will be unacceptable.

Changing needs of sports and activities

Things rarely stay the same and over the years a client may need to use the floor for new purposes in order to maintain income levels, and previously popular activities may go out of fashion.

There is a growing trend for flexible spaces. What used to be a simple sports hall may now need to double as a theatre and performance space, a venue for local community activities, trade shows and other, similar events. A sprung floor has to be able to take on all these challenges. Floors need to become more durable, easier to refurbish and repair and be more load bearing.

One of the main trends is the installation of retractable seating systems which allow a wider variety of events to take place. Some synthetic floor surfaces can suffer tracking marks and scuffs from the seating wheels, but others such as lacquered hardwood are more resistant and can be resealed anyway as part of the maintenance cycle. Some stuck-down finishes can de-bond and ruck under rolling loads. Some floor types cannot be strengthened to bear seating loads and therefore will not work with retractable seating units.

Environmental issues are already making inroads into gym culture. Perhaps one of the most striking examples is the London-based Terra Hale gyms which use energy generated by its clients during their workouts to power the building. But importantly, they also pay meticulous attention to the materials that are used in their fit outs. Both the company owners and their clients place a high value on using materials with good environmental credentials, reducing use of plastics and other non-recyclable, non-sustainable options. This would appear to make perfect sense as environmentalism and sustainability go hand in hand with health, fitness and wellbeing. The message speaks directly to a public for whom environmental issues are high on the agenda. It will not come as a surprise if other sport and leisure companies follow suit.

Whether you are using PreLak Nordic, White, Driftwood Grey or Dark Coco, the quality of the final finish is influenced by a number of things, including the final sanding, type of timber, choice of tools and application method.

There are some differences in the way coloured primers are used compared with lear products – here are some tips to help you achieve the best possible result.

Type of Floor
Junckers PreLak Colour is designed to work best on lighter timbers such as pine and oak. Best results will be achieved on strip or plank floors where the PreLak can be applied along the grain. It is more difficult to achieve a uniform colour on parquet floors such as herringbone, where you cannot apply the product along the grain.

Coloured primers work best in areas that do not have complex shapes. It will be more challenging to achieve a perfect finish on small, irregularly shaped floors.
 
Water based primers are sometimes not suitable for tropical timbers and those with high levels of natural oils, and for these a solvent based primer such as Junckers BasePrime is a good choice. 

Final Sanding
Best results are achieved by sanding to the usual 120 to 150 grit finish. Further benefits can be achieved by using 150 to 180 grit, as this reduces the amount of raised grain and helps to produce a more uniform colour.
 
Application Tools
Best applied with a short pile roller or brush.

Application Method
Building up the colour in stages is sometimes easier than putting on a stronger colour in one coat. You can dilute PreLak Coloured 50:50 with Clear PreLak and apply two coats.
 
A pigmented primer needs to be applied with more care than a clear product, and it is important to roll the finish to an even colour before it dries. Uneven colour, when wet will not become more uniform as it dries.

Apply the primer to only two or three planks at a time, to the full length of the floor. This will reduce roller marks.

Have a question? Get in touch with Richard on RIA@junckers.com

Along with the growth of environmental issues customers are beginning to focus their interest upon the ethical and moral standards companies adopt; who do they buy materials from, who are their investors and business partners? Are they part of a supply chain that includes corrupt governments, forced labour, human rights abuses, environmental damage and the like?

For members of the flooring industry this is a two-way process. In one direction you have the information that you pass on to your customers about the products and services that you are providing, and in the other, the way that you assess your own suppliers.

In recent years there has been a number of national news stories concerning the ethical standards of some of our larger global organisations; not just companies, but charities too and some of the allegations have been very damaging. The news starts with the larger companies of course, because these stories have the greatest impact, but inevitably there is a “trickle down” effect with questions asked of smaller companies too. Increasing levels of public awareness means that today almost any company or organisation can be asked to account for its standards of citizenship and ethics, UK flooring industry manufacturers and contractors included.

Higher levels of public scrutiny are persuading many companies to look at their suppliers’ and subcontractors’ credentials as well as their own. Environmental issues will usually be considered at the same time and with equal importance.

Where is this information to be found?

A company will usually communicate its standards and policies through a Corporate Social Responsibility Report (CSR). Customers will usually be given free access to this, and most companies that participate will publish theirs on their website.

A CSR is a formal report issued by the company, often reviewed annually. It is a voluntary, self-regulating set of standards and policies that the company adopts to show that it is a “good citizen” and an ethical member of its business and local community. There is a direct correlation between CSR and sustainability and environmental issues through among other things, reducing pollution, use of sustainable materials, low carbon and reduced energy use. So, an ethical company with a good CSR will have many positive messages to pass on and to “sell” the company itself alongside the products and services it offers. It can strongly enhance the customers experience of dealing with the company.

CSRs tend to be adopted by medium and larger sized companies and are probably not something that a small company would consider producing themselves. However, if you represent a small company or are a sole trader you will probably be offering your customers products that are manufactured by larger companies and “big brands” for whom a CSR is more relevant. If you use any form of supplier assessment process, ensuring that your larger suppliers have a CSR should be a key part of the process. It is possible of course that some of your customers will not care who you buy from provided the price is right. But indications are that an increasing number do care, and pressure on UK companies is increasing because they know that any loss of reputation may take many years to overcome. We have a generation of students that is generally well educated and has high levels of environmental and political awareness and a strong sense of justice. They will soon be the next generation of clients and construction professionals and whilst we know that all the world’s ills are unlikely to be solved soon, the pressure on companies to operate ethically will only increase.

There is an international standard that relates to CSR; ISO 26000: 2010. However, it is important to understand exactly how this standard operates. Firstly ISO 26000: 2010 is not a management system, certification scheme or set of regulatory standards, so you cannot be “ISO 26000 certified”.

ISO 26000 helps companies to put together their own CSRs by defining a CSR and its scope and describes the main concepts. It defines how these concepts need to be integrated into the organisations’ practices. It also sets out how the organisation should integrate with its stakeholders, customers, suppliers and any other bodies they engage with. It advises on how the companies’ policies should be communicated through the organisation and beyond, and how these should be implemented, monitored and reviewed.

The standard encourages organisations to go beyond legal standards wherever possible; compliance with the law is after all a fundamental responsibility.

Much of what is contained in a CSR will be taken on trust, but the information presented must be verifiable. Whilst ISO 26000 is not a certification scheme a CSR should contain references to any other relevant certification that the organisation holds as this will strengthen the credentials of its CSR. Many of these will be independently audited to recognised standards.

So you can see that there is no single route to a CSR and the measures adopted will vary from one organisation to another depending upon their sphere of activity, materials and production methods, their location and who in the world they interact with.

What can a CSR do for me?

An ethical company will adopt certain policies and procedures, but of course you can do this whether or not you choose to issue a CSR. A CSR though, is an excellent way of communicating your values and activities to your stakeholders.

Customer Relations and PR

Engenders trust between company and customer. The message conveyed by a CSR appeals to the customers’ sense of justice and makes them feel good about themselves – that they are not contributing to the world’s problems! The company’s approach will reflect a growing number of customers’ ideals and preferences for ethical trading. Satisfied customers often recommend the supplier to others and the company’s market strength may well improve.

It can provide material for case studies, social media activity, publicity and advertising. This can work on a global or national level depending upon the nature of the topic, e.g. strong local impact for reduction of pollution at the factory site, or wider impact of helping to provide better working conditions or training schemes

abroad. A CSR helps to avoid adverse publicity, speculation and rumour about ways that the company operates.

Corporate Identity

Having a CSR contributes in a positive way to the way the company is perceived by customers, stakeholders and the community. A company with a high ethical profile is likely to be trusted as a representative of its industry and so may be more influential in shaping its industry, providing input for new product standards, advising Government and expert bodies and the like. This should also engender support and trust from the local community.

Employee Satisfaction

It provides employees with a common aim and principles they can buy into. Having a reputation for a satisfied workforce will give the employer a better choice of candidates when recruiting.

Value proposition

During the tender process a CSR can be a useful way to assess bidders. If products and prices being offered are similar the successful bidder may be the one who is the best corporate citizen. CSR holders may also be less prone to price pressure. All things being equal a company that holds a CSR is likely to be perceived as more trustworthy and with a better level of customer care than one that does not.

Apart from the moral issue of using labour that is underpaid and confined to poor living conditions and little if any welfare, can a company who exploits its labour force offer its customers good service and business continuity?

Attracting funding and Investors

Ethical investment has been with us for some time and we have seen the proliferation of ethical investment funds including pensions that are tailor made for both consumer and corporate investors. On the consumer side green energy companies are here to stay and we have clothing and food retail chains whose ethos is “fair trade”.

What might a CSR contain?

There is not enough space here to talk about everything a CSR report might contain but there are some fundamentals that will occur frequently. Perhaps the best way to illustrate this is to use my own company, Junckers Ltd, as an example – and of course being the one that I know best! For anyone not familiar with the company, Junckers Ltd is a Danish manufacturer of solid hardwood floors. Bear in mind this is just one approach adopted by a single company. Other organisations will be working in different environments so their CSRs will need to relate to the world that they operate in. Junckers’ CSR focuses strongly upon forestry and timber supplies, on site energy generation, and in the past, local pollution, noise etc. (all resolved I am pleased to say).

In order to provide a framework for its CSR in 2011 Junckers signed up to the United Nations Global Compact to support the four main areas of activity; Human Rights, Labour Standards, Environment and Anti-Corruption. The company has set goals in each of these areas and has devised a strategy to meet them. The CSR reports periodically on what progress has been made. What follows is a brief summary of what the company is doing in each of these areas.

Human Rights

The company has several locations around the world and in each of these countries human rights legislation is enforced, therefore the risk of violating human rights is low. However, there is still a focus on ensuring that violations are not occurring indirectly through dealings with third parties. For different companies the balance of risk between direct and indirect/third party human rights violations will be different according to whom they trade with.

Labour Standards

Health and safety at work policies are a key element of labour welfare.

High priority is given to identifying opportunities to increase employee job satisfaction and to invest in appropriate technology whenever possible. As part of its general approach the company aims to reduce activities that are repetitive. This can reduce stress and the likelihood of accidents and injuries such as RSI.

The company is certified under OHSAS 18001, which provides an independently audited system for management of occupational health and safety.

Environment

Junckers has several independently audited accreditations that are related to environmental issues.

ISO 14001 Defines the scope and operation of environmental management systems.

ISO 50001 Sets out standards and practices for energy management.

PEFC and FSC® Timber sustainability schemes, to ensure that timber is from legal and sustainable sources.

Danish Indoor Climate Labelling Scheme Assesses products in relation to their effect on the air inside buildings. The scheme examines emission levels of organic solvents, carcinogens and particulates over a defined period of time.

Operational practices include 100% use of the raw logs that are purchased. The waste wood is used in an on-site power station that generates all the electricity for the factory site and provides the surplus to the local grid. As a result, the company is carbon neutral and its products have very low embodied carbon.

On a local level the company is obliged to be a “good neighbour”, and to this end measures have been put in place to reduce pollution from noise and dust, and contaminants in waste water from the plant have been reduced.

Anti-Corruption

The company checks to ensure that none of its activities support oppressive regimes, human slavery and exploitation, poor pay and working conditions. In practice this means not only looking at its own activities, but those of its suppliers and subcontractors.

To reiterate, this is a broad profile of the CSR of one company, but I suggest that many of the topics shown here will also relate to many organisations.

I think it is likely that CSRs will become increasingly important to clients and specifiers, and companies will be asked to justify their place in the ethical community. We have already seen significant changes in attitudes towards the environment, and the way that it has impacted the working methods of architects, engineers and product designers. Does it not make sense that our concern for the impact upon the natural world will be followed by concern for the people that inhabit it?

This article first appeared in the October 2020 issue of Contract Flooring Journal https://www.contractflooringjournal.co.uk/archive/help-and-advice/how-to-take-responsibility-for-your-actions/

To view Junckers’ CSR, please click here