Tools and building trends for 2022

Brian Hardy - Head of Specialist Kennards Hire

Tool and building trends for 2022

Equipment to build a sustainable future.

By Brian Hardy • Head of Specialist, Kennards Hire

During recent years, the impact of increasing climate anomalies, such as the Black Summer bushfires, floods and now La Nina, have heightened Australians’ awareness of the need for sustainable products and practices. This has driven demand for more companies, from big construction players to small businesses, to become drivers of change, in their own capacity, to help create a greener future.

Australians are progressively questioning how the actions, practices and ethical choices of brands are impacting our planet. To meet the societal changes, many industries, including building and construction are working to change the way they operate to help ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy a clean and safe earth for years to come.

According to the Climate Council of Australia, one in four homes now has solar panels, demonstrating the growing shift towards clean energy options across the nation. Heading into 2022, Kennards Hire predicts that this growing demand for clean energy will see businesses further strive to reduce their emissions on all scales of construction projects.

To meet these increasing environmentally supportive demands, Kennards Hire is offering a growing range of sustainable equipment solutions. Their most recent is a ‘Hybrid Power Generator’ (HPG), a direct result of listening to feedback from procurement managers who were consistently calling for products that made the job easy, while also doing the right thing for our planet. This innovative piece of equipment eliminates the need to constantly refuel with diesel and instead generates power through solar. When the sun isn’t shining, the generator switches to battery power from its backup generator.

Using solar and battery technology to generate and store reliable, clean power, the HPG is easily run without the need to be connected to an overhead electricity network. With connected frame-mounted solar panels and attached battery banks — this generator also limits noise pollution, running at a much quieter volume compared to other generator counterparts.

Many construction sites are shifting to using hybridpowered equipment to complete their green star accredited projects. In the past, construction has been known to be a big contributor to global emissions. Most estimate that buildings, in construction and operation, use between 30 and 40 per cent of global energy, depending on the metrics. However, for example, at the regional NSW construction site pictured above, the HPG easily generated clean power, mitigating the environmental impact of the job. On this project, the 45kVA unit ran 24/7 for 28 days and saw a 97 per cent decrease in generator run time, it saved $6,500 in fuel costs and reduced CO₂ by 12 tons.

With the green building market expected to grow by at least 14 percent by 2027, this isn’t a trend that will slow down. The introduction of environmentally friendly equipment will soon become commonplace for all construction and building projects. Kennards Hire has strong plans to continue to introduce more sustainable equipment options to meet the growing ‘green’ demands of the industry and promote hiring over buying to reduce consumption of tools and equipment.