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It's Easy Being Green: How Screw Piles Can Reduce Your Site's Environmental Impact

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It would be easy to assume that being environmentally friendly is costly and impractical. Luckily for both business owners and the earth itself, that's not always the case.  Sometimes, the environmentally friendly option is also the economic one - and that's certainly the case with steel screw piles.  You might not expect it.  After all, screw piles have been an industry stalwart for a long time; they are one of the fundamental techniques for securing foundations in place.  So how can such an innocuous little screw be good for the environment - effective and simple though they are?

Limited Ground Disturbance

Because screw piles can be inserted directly into the ground, they save on displacing all the soil to create a solid, concrete foundation - or similar.  Not only does this reduce the impact on the natural environment around your construction project or site, but it also removes the need to transport that soil away.  As you may know, if you've ever counted up the environmental cost of a project, it is this kind of transport which really has a significant contribution.

Removal is Easy

Not only is installing the screw piles easy - but removing them is simple, too. Of course, this doesn't make them any less sturdy; it just means that you don't need to exert excess force or damage the surrounding environment to remove the structure, should you ever wish to do so.  Granted, this may be a permanent building - but if the site is ever sold on or needs to be significantly rebuilt, it remains there as an advantage.

Readily Available

Unlike a custom-built foundation or a complex underground structure, screw piles are a readily available technology, and easy to transport; they don't need to be flown in or specially constructed for your project. Without the need for heavy-duty - and expensive - transportation, choosing screw piles to secure your building will greatly have reduced its carbon footprint before you even begin construction.

Of course, just using screw piles alone will not resolve your site from the responsibility of caring for the environment; perhaps you were intending to use them anyway.  However, it's still certainly interesting to consider how such a small change can actually make a difference at all.  It's encouraging to know that businesses have choices to make that serve the environment without having to mine their bank balances - a real win-win situation.


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