Journal •
Driving Sustainable Innovation: Kilsaran’s Commitment and Ireland’s Built Future
At Kilsaran, we are passionate about the environment, the communities we work in and operating as a responsible business. As far back as 2001, these matters were at the core of all business activities. In more recent years we as a company have looked at our operations through the focused lens of ESG and looked at our role in relation to Ireland’s Climate Action Plan, the protection of Ireland’s future heritage on such matters as biodiversity and decarbonising Ireland’s built environment. Government frameworks, such as Project Ireland 2040 and Heritage Ireland 2040, both recognise the need for continued National development in areas such as infrastructure and housing, but both frameworks also recognise the need for balancing the needs of a modern society with a continued respect for our country’s heritage.
In 2023 we at Kilsaran published our first ever ESG strategy which communicated our four ESG pillars, Planet, People, Solutions and Performance. We set stringent emissions reduction targets and published numerous initiatives surrounding reducing embodied carbon in our products, developing new products that enhance urban biodiversity, and nurturing our relationships with the communities within which we work. Our Solutions pillar is heavily centred around research and development. Innovations such as recycled asphalt pavement (RAP), where we use old road plannings to produce new asphalt for road infrastructure projects, CarbonCure, where we inject sequestered carbon dioxide from the fertilizer industry into our ready-mixed concrete to trap it in a carbon sink, lime-based masonry mortars and low carbon concretes, all contribute to lower embodied carbon in the built environment.
Our continued research into recycled materials and proper utilisation of soil and earth from development works, proves that for every metric tonne of soil it is possible to extract up to 750kg of high quality aggregates for use in building materials. The outputs of this research holds two distinct advantages, the first being diverting the soil and earth from landfill and the second reducing the dependence for virgin aggregate sources. A final example of our recent innovations is our Clima-Grid product. This product is made with up to 80% recycled material and significantly aids urban biodiversity though its design. The paving unit allows grass and vegetation to grow through it, creating a micro-habitat for wildflowers and pollinators. We are very honoured that this product won the product innovation category at the 2025 Irish Construction Excellence Awards and was Highly Commended at the 2024 Architects Choice Awards for Best Exterior Product.
At Kilsaran we continue to push the boundaries of product development with an aim of delivering modern low impact building materials, that acknowledge Ireland’s future infrastructure development and environmental needs, whilst providing solutions to the industry that facilitate the Heritage Ireland 2030 framework.
Article by Ken Mulkerrins, Group Head of Innovation & Sustainability at Kilsaran for Open House Dublin 2025
