Meet the sustainable and green construction fence!

Especially in inner-city areas, the demand for construction fences that give the construction site a pleasant, livable and natural appearance is growing. Heras Mobile Fencing & Security responds to this with the Combi-Wood construction fence, which combines the advantages of the familiar Combi-Fence with sustainable use of materials and social impact on aspects such as SROI and nuisance reduction. Moreover, the Combi-Wood construction fence is very robust, making it ideal for both sale and rental.

"Together with the City of Amsterdam, we developed our Combi-Fence city fence a few years ago. This fence consists of a sheet-pile profile at the bottom and a fence of very fine mesh at the top, so that visibility on the construction site and high safety go perfectly hand-in-hand," says Joost van der Pas, Manager Communication & Product Management at Heras. 

"Although still popular, we saw that fencing at sight locations in inner-city areas was increasingly being replaced by 'green' construction fencing, using wood and planters. As an organization, we are happy to go along with this trend. When the social enterprise Green Construction Fences sent an inquiry to our sales department, I immediately contacted them. I looked into the mission and vision of the organization, which literally improves the livability of construction sites. Both in terms of appearance and socially, because as much work as possible is created for people with a distance to the labor market. By combining this socio-social approach with our commercial market approach, maximum impact is achieved."

Social impact

Together with Groene Bouwhekken, Heras-Mobile investigated how both expertises could be successfully combined. "For four months we tested various materials, material combinations and designs in the inner city of Amsterdam: from metal to Underlayment wood and Douglass wood and from completely flat panels to plank constructions," says Van der Pas. "Based on this testing phase, we chose durable Douglas fir wood, which is very suitable for long-term outdoor applications. Whereas Groene Bouwhekken supplies all-wood construction fences with a wooden frame, wooden fillings and wooden planters that are 100% SROI made, we have kept our familiar and stable Combi-Fence frame intact and enriched it with a robust wooden panel filling. The wooden Douglas-fir panel is PEFC-certified and produced by the Construction shed, which helps people reintegrate into the labor market. Combi-Wood is also suitable for attaching wooden planters, creating an attractive green streetscape. If desired, the maintenance of the planters can be carried out by a local social organization, such as the Salvation Army."

An edge...

In practice, beautiful, wooden construction fences with planters are more likely to be left alone by graffiti artists, Van der Pas emphasizes. "Also, less is stuck on the material. This significantly improves the appearance of the construction site. Not for nothing are more and more requests from local residents for wooden or combi construction fences. Contractors who go along with this have an edge in their tendering processes. Moreover, the Combi-Wood construction fence provides valuable Social Return points."

Beautiful, robust and cost-effective

Just before the summer, the Combi-Wood construction fence was introduced to the market. The first reactions are very positive, says Van der Pas. "People see the added value of a more beautiful construction site and like the fact that the construction fences also serve another, social purpose. Because the construction fences are more robust than their predecessors, they are also a very cost-effective solution." In addition to inner-city areas, the Combi-Wood construction fence lends itself perfectly to events as well as the hospitality industry, he emphasizes. "For example, last summer our fences were used for the mandatory separation of terraces. We also installed several Combi-Wood fences around Groningen's city hall. The expectation is that many more projects will follow."