Page 29 - October 2015 Green Builder Magazine
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The point of the brainstorming session was to imagine products 27
that are completely renewable, says Gale Tedhams, director of
IMAGE CREDIT: ILFI sustainability for Owens Corning. “What if we could start over and www.greenbuildermedia.com 10.2015
had all the money in the world? We’re looking at environmental,
Informed Choices. The Declare label gives information about social and economic impacts.”
where a product is made, what’s in it and what options are
available at the end of its life. The ILFI calls this approach “handprinting.” Instead of simply
lowering negative impacts, often referred to as environmental
product and environmental product declarations for their products. footprint, product developers explore how to also promote positive
It stands to reason that companies that are proactive will have an impacts.
advantage; and in fact, leaders are emerging in every category,
from flooring to roofing to insulation. Owens Corning began working with the ILFI after working
with project teams pursuing the Living Building Challenge
PUSHING THE ENVELOPE certification, but the company has been actively promoting energy-
One of these leaders is Owens Corning. Representatives from efficient building concepts for more than 40 years. Owens Corning
the company, whose products include fiberglass and mineral was the first company to issue EPDs for insulation products in
wool insulation and foam sealant, recently participated in a North America, and it uses third-party certifications, including
brainstorming session with representatives from the International GREENGUARD and Cradle-to-Cradle, as a tool to communicate
Living Future Institute (ILFI), which launched the Living Product information about its products to customers.
Challenge in May of this year. Aimed at manufacturers, this is a
companion program to the rigorous Living Building Challenge When reimagining products, much of the focus is on so-
certification program for buildings. Manufacturers who choose to called “Red List” ingredients—a list of “worst-in-class” chemicals
have their products certified by the Declare program must disclose and compounds that negatively impact human health and the
what the product is made of, where these components come from environment.
and include end-of-life instructions.
Coming up with substitutes while maintaining performance—
what Tedhams calls “green without compromise”—doesn’t happen
overnight; for example, developing the plant-based binder that
allowed the transition to formaldehyde-free EcoTouch insulation
without causing a spike in price took several years.
THE PRODUCT AND THE PROCESS
But developing truly renewable products requires looking at more
than product ingredients or even the impact of extraction or end-
of-life disposal.
“Product sustainability and operational sustainability go hand
in hand,” says Tedhams. From a manufacturing standpoint, this
means looking at waste and water and energy use and asking lots of
questions. “What can be recycled? Can we get renewable energy?
Each state has different incentives, so the opportunities change
depending on where we are.” Tedhams adds that her company’s
approach also involves collaborating with others, in order to teach
and promote building techniques that improve energy efficiency.
As any pro knows, it’s easier to start from scratch than retrofit,
and the same is true when retrofitting sustainability into products
that are already on the market. Owens Corning has incorporated
a mapping protocol into its innovation process for new products,
so that at every stage in development, certain sustainability goals
must be met before proceeding.
“We’re embedding sustainability into our process,” says
Tedhams. “The goal is not to have it be special, but the norm.”
Owens Corning is part of the ILFI’s LP50: a group of manufacturers
committed to developing renewable products through transparency,
green chemistry and supply chain innovation. And of course there
are other manufacturers that have made bold commitments to
developing renewable products. If pros and consumers show
preference to such companies, and to products and materials that
have earned transparency labels, it will send a strong message to
those who stick to business as usual—a market effect we predict
is already under way.
