Customers and Sustainable Products
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2019 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT Customers and sustainable products We have tens of thousands of customers across our global operations, and we play a central role in providing the building products and construction materials that enable our customers to build the homes and cities of tomorrow. In addition to its lower carbon qualities, Plasterboard solutions achieving a cement replacement of up to Launched in 2018, USG Boral’s new ® 65%, ENVISIA provides other valuable Ensemble™ Acoustical Plasterboard Ceiling benefits including high flexural strength, is an innovative solution for interior ceilings low shrinkage and high durability. This that combines the seamless look of combination of qualities led to Boral being plasterboard with acoustical properties. selected to supply to the Crown Sydney project at Barangaroo in NSW. USG Boral is also continuing to progress plant trials and product development to Its durability and sustainability led to the Across our three divisions, we successfully adapt the USG-developed Queensland Department of Transport ® supply products to a wide range of Sheetrock EcoSmart Panels technology and Main Roads approving the ENVISIA® customers, from people renovating to local markets. binder system, enabling us to supply it for their homes through to large-scale Queensland infrastructure projects. We are focusing initially on selected builders and commercial geographies including Australia, where we ® developers. Aspire is a very high-strength concrete are optimising the process and formulations specifically developed to maximise Through our integrated construction to suit Australia’s thinner boards, and concrete stiffness. This allows designers materials business in Australia, we also identifying opportunities to further lower to maximise floor space by incorporating supply to major infrastructure projects material costs. thinner vertical elements in commercial and that require complex and highly technical high-rise buildings. Aspire® also has a lower solutions. And through our Fly Ash High-recycled-content exterior overall Portland cement content compared business in the USA, we are helping cladding to equivalent high-strength concrete. cement and concrete producers deliver Boral North America’s poly-ash TruExterior® construction materials that perform better The new 50-storey Suncorp headquarters Siding & Trim products offer the look and produce fewer carbon emissions. in Brisbane will be built with ENVISIA® and of wood while surpassing the durability Aspire® over FY2020–21. and workability of timber and alternative As construction technologies and the needs products. The products are certified by of our customers evolve, we will strive to Enflo® is concrete that self compacts, SCS Global as being manufactured using remain at the forefront of new developments, enabling our customers to place concrete 70% recycled materials (fly ash) and are and to deliver high-quality, innovative faster without the need for vibration to Cradle to Cradle Certified™. solutions and sustainable products. compact or consolidate, saving labour and time. Boral’s concrete innovations Boral’s concrete solutions address specific ENVISIA® concrete, Punchbowl Mosque, NSW engineering, design and sustainability needs over and above the capability of conventional concrete available in the market. Some examples of our advanced concretes are ENVISIA®, Aspire® and Enflo®. ENVISIA® lower carbon concrete meets the targets of the Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia (ISCA) and helps the construction industry achieve higher Green Star ratings on projects assessed by the Green Building Council of Australia. 48 2019 BORAL REVIEW IMPROVING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE In Boral Australia, our Customer Experience program is focused on delivering better outcomes for our customers and our business. To help us understand how we can better serve our customers, we are strengthening the methods we use to capture customer feedback. This year, Boral Australia introduced customer surveys and began reporting three types of Net Promoter Score (NPS): an Interaction, Episode and Strategic score. We monitor our Interaction NPS on a daily basis across a number of product lines, gathering feedback on individual Louise Keyte, General Manager Technology Execution, customer interactions. This enables our Innovation Factory, NSW teams to respond to any negative NPS scores quickly and proactively, so we can implement improvement measures and PRODUCT STEWARDSHIP INVESTING IN INNOVATION make our customers’ next interaction with We are committed to responsibly managing In FY2019, we invested about $30 million Boral a positive experience. the health, safety, environmental and social in research and development (R&D) across Our Boral Concrete business has engaged aspects of our products, from the product our three innovation centres in the USA, with a broad cross-section of customers development phase through to its end Australia and Thailand. Our Innovation and non-customers to obtain feedback of life. teams are helping Boral deliver superior on a strategic level, and for each step building products and construction In FY2019, we established a Boral Product of the customer journey. This data will materials to better serve our customers Stewardship Network to oversee the establish a baseline NPS and form the and develop new markets. implementation of all activities governed by basis of internal targets for improving our the Boral Product Stewardship Framework At our Innovation Factory in Maldon, customers’ experiences. and Boral Product Stewardship Standard. NSW, we are focused on R&D in cement, During the year, Boral North America has Sponsored by the Group HSE Director, the concrete and alternative binders with focused on cross-branding and providing network consists of representatives from a lower carbon footprint and improved a single entry point for our Boral North each of Boral’s divisions and meets at least properties for customers. The team America suite of building products. three times a year. recently developed and commercialised the Aspire® high-performance concrete. In USG Boral, our new customer-centric The Boral Product Stewardship Framework improvement program is underway. The is focused on managing risks across the At our North America Innovation Factory initiative includes a focus on optimising life cycle of our products, and provides a in San Antonio, Texas, our efforts are our value propositions through improved consistent approach across the Group. focused on developing the next generation customer segmentation. This has already of composite materials for the Stone, Boral’s Product Stewardship Standard, led us to roll out several new products and Roofing and Lightweight Building Products within our HSEQ MS, requires all new or systems, including EasiFinishTM in emerging businesses. These product solutions aim modified products to have a documented markets in Asia. to provide superior performance compared assessment of HSEQ risks. The standard to conventional products, and will also also outlines minimum requirements for Boral Connects incorporate recycled content. handling and using products, in the form of Making it easier for customers to deal with Safety Data Sheets, product labelling and USG Boral’s R&D Centre in Saraburi, us is at the heart of Boral Australia’s new Safe Work Method Statements. Thailand, is using world-class technologies customer portal, Boral Connects. to develop innovative products and systems that address market needs and Our portal makes our interactions more deliver superior performance. transparent to our customers, and saves customers’ time when dealing with Boral, by allowing them to view, confirm or cancel orders online. Customers can also view SUPPORTING A CIRCULAR ECONOMY the expected time of arrival of their orders Boral Asphalt, in partnership with the City of Canning in Western Australia, trialled a in near real time, enabling them to more new asphalt product containing four different types of recycled materials that were effectively manage their job site. likely headed to landfill. This follows a successful trial of using plastic in asphalt in Stockton, NSW, earlier this year. The recycled materials used in a suburban street This new digital channel is making it easier included asphalt pavement, tyres, glass and plastic bottles. for our customers to work with us, allowing The transition to offering sustainable recycled products within our suite of asphalt them to use self-service rather than call our mixes presents a significant opportunity to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill customer service centre. It is also reducing and to support a circular economy approach. our customer support costs. 49.