2017 Sustainable Building Awards

30 BUILD / Sustainable Building Awards 2017 , Best Surface Protection Provider - UK For almost 30 years Guard Industry has specialised in the research, development and production of products to protect, decorate, clean, maintain and preserve all sorts of building materials. We invited Jayson Cooper to tell us more about the firmand what services it provides to its clients. Guard Industry is now present in over 60 countries through its subsidiaries and international distribution network. Most of its products are water based, Eco-friendly and biodegradable, resulting in products that are sympathetic to the materials/structure they are applied to. Jayson tells us what work the company undertakes within the sustainable building market and what works and some particular projects he chose to highlight. “Regarding our services, there are three main areas to our business; cleaning, protection and air purification and our products have been used on some very prestigious projects. Some notable projects include protecting the columns of The Vatican, applying our innovative air purification protection product on Croke Park, Europe’s 3rd largest stadium, and we have cleaned and protected numerous footpaths in Westminster including Whitehall, Regents Street and St James Market. After extensive tests on Marylebone Lane and Aldington Street, Westminster City Council have chosen ProtectGuard ® HD as the best protection product and would be used on all future public realm projects in Westminster. “One of our most prestigious projects to date, our work on Whitehall with our approved applicator was completed in March 2017. Whitehall, home of the United Kingdom Parliament is visited by millions of visitors each year. The footpaths around the area are laid in English Pennine Stone. Although laid quite recently, the amount of footfall coupled with the pollution from traffic and chewing gum deposits meant that the appearance of this iconic street was beginning to degrade; It was in dire need of rejuvenation. The area also needed to be protected from future degradation. ProtectGuard ® HD not only achieves this, but also stops the ingress of the oil from chewing gum deposits, whilst still allowing the stone to breathe. Commenting on this, Guard Industry UK Director, Paul Bradley was thrilled to be part of the project, as he explains and it appears the project could not have gone better. “Guard Industry and myself are privileged to be involved in this project. A lot of planning and hard work has been put in to get phase one completed and I’m delighted with the results.” There are many trends that are affecting firms within the sustainable building market and Jayson tells us how Guard Industry are adapting to these trends. Noting the rise in the number of businesses looking SU170024 to use sustainable, eco-friendly products. “There has been a rise in the number of businesses looking to use sustainable, eco-friendly products. We are seeing that more businesses are looking for alternatives to cleaning products with high percentages of harmful acids and there is a demand for protection products which are biodegradable and eco-friendly. “Furthermore, the recent news where the sale of new petrol and diesel cars will be banned by 2040, shows us that tackling pollution is now one issues at the forefront of our minds for the future. To help tackle high levels of pollution, we have produced our air purification and protection product, ProtectGuard ® Dtox. ProtectGuard ® Dtox is based around titanium dioxide technology that breaks down NOx and VOCs in the air that comes in to contact with the protected surface, by reacting with the sun’s UV rays.” This product is ideal for a variety of projects and particularly in large cities such as London and others, which Jayson explains. Perfect for an assortment of surfaces, Jayson highlights the versatility of ProtectGuard ® as it has been used on roofs, floors and sports stadiums. “ProtectGuard ® Dtox is perfect for to be used in large cities like London, Birmingham and Manchester where there is a lot of pollution. Suitable to be used outdoors on porous floors, roofs and facades (stone, concrete, brick, rendering...), ProtectGuard® Dtox can be used on both new and renovated constructions. For each 1m² of area protected with ProtectGuard ® Dtox, an average of 5.4m³ of air will be purified per day! “Croke Park was the 1st project to use ProtectGuard Dtox in the UK and Ireland. Based on the 70,000m² of area that was protected, 13,000m³ of air around the stadium is being purified every day!” Jayson signs off by explaining what he and the company feel are the major benefits to working within Birmingham, as well as the rest of the UK and Ireland. Travel and the constant availability to clients appears to be extremely beneficial for the firm. “Ultimately, even though our offices are based in Birmingham, we supply to the whole of the UK and Ireland. We also have regional sales managers and distributors nationally, so any help and advice is never far away. Being based centrally helps when our Director Paul Bradley, needs to travel to different areas around the UK, Ireland or to our head office in Paris.”