Page 28 - October 2015 Green Builder Magazine

ALTERNATIVE CONSTRUCTION

26

Building Products
with Integrity

Some progressive manufacturers are skipping the green wash and
developing products that are both renewable and transparent.

GETTING THE CARBON out is just the beginning. of chemicals and processes that reduce or eliminate hazardous
Growing awareness of the impact of product and substances—and biomimicry—emulating natural processes to
material choices on indoor air quality is driving solve human problems—are facilitating a more holistic approach
interest in non-toxic products and resulting in to product design and manufacturing, and often meld the best of
greater transparency for manufacturers. Here is natural materials and sophisticated science.
where “natural” products have an edge. They tend to be simpler,
with fewer components, and fewer, if any man-made chemicals, Specifiers and customers are becoming savvier and demanding
which tend to bio-accumulative and have undesirable health effects. to know not only what’s in products, but how they are made, and
quantify their impacts all along the supply chain. In response,
But the ever-growing fields of “green chemistry”—the design more companies are paying for third-party certifications, health
www.greenbuildermedia.com 10.2015

IMAGE CREDIT: OWENS CORNING

Certifiably Sustainable. Several Owens Corning products have earned UL Environment’s Sustainable Product Cerification logo, or
EcoLogo, including the ProPink insulation shown here.