Page 39 - Green Builder July-August 2020 Issue

at 4 p.m. in the winter. Therefore, we want our
employees to take advantage of as much natural
light as possible.”
The company has also cut down on paper used
for everyday work. The fax machine is gone, and
all marketing materials are available for download
on IceStone’s website. And, IceStone tries to
work with like-minded vendors who also believe in
sustainability and an eco-friendly way of living and
working, the company notes.
This attitude ties in perfectly with its countertop
products, which are made from 100 percent pre-
consumer recycled glass. All of it is produced in
the United States, which reduces the amount of
energy and pollution that would otherwise occur
due to the transportation distance. Certifications
and accolades received over the years include
EPA’s Environmental Leadership Award; B
Corporation’s Best for the Environment; Cradle
Light it up, please. Electric lights are in rare form—literally—at IceStone’s production facility, which to Cradle’s Legacy Award; and Inc. magazine’s 50
relies primarily on natural lighting from a massive window setup. COURTESY OF ICESTONE Greenest Companies, to name a few.

But the one drawback, according to officials at actually fill 8,000 semi-trucks with the paper that
Greenfiber, is the fact that nearly all of the plant we have diverted from landfills!” Stena Bulk
fiber-based insulation is made only from virgin Greenfiber has a plant in each region of the An eco-friendly shipper proves that net
material. Nearly all. “We use paper products that country to keep delivery of raw materials and zero can also happen on open water.
have had a previous life in the consumer cycle, shipping of the finished product to within a
instead of adding the cost of continually harvesting 500-mile radius, the company adds. HIPPING IS A HUGE NECESSITY for
raw materials,” the company notes. “This allows us much of the green building industry.
to offer an environmentally responsible option for One international shipping company
professional insulation contractors, builders and IceStone S is developing a way to cut customers’
homeowners.” For this countertop maker, the green costs and clean the environment. Sweden-based
Eighty-five percent of the company’s cellulose Stena Bulk has begun offering services priced by
insulation comes from recycled paper, and doing so way is the right way. grade of biofuel, from a 20 percent mixture to a
keeps all of the captured carbon within the product HE OFFICIALS at countertop maker 100 percent waste-based biofuel. The fuel has
instead of releasing it into the environment. IceStone know they’re not a 100 percent the potential of putting shipping on the trajectory
Manufacturing also requires one-tenth of the zero waste facility—yet. But it’s a goal to towards the International Maritime Organization
energy needed to produce fiberglass insulation, T reach that milestone as soon as possible. (IMO)’s greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets,
and the production process—electric-driven IceStone practices sustainability not only in its without having to wait for new technology and
facilities vs. gas-fired furnaces—merits a little products but in its facility and production efforts. zero-carbon fuels to emerge as commercially
bit of bragging. Steam-powered kilns are used to cure countertop viable options, according to Stena Bulk President
Greenfiber’s low-energy manufacturing process material. A calibration machine requires a lot of and CEO Erik Hånell.
generates zero waste, other than dust which water; a recycling water system enables water’s The new offerings will also allow customers
is confined within the production system and re-use. The company uses electric/hybrid forklifts, to make use of low-carbon shipping options
filtered out of the air that gets discharged into the and a huge skylight provides natural light in the regardless of fuel availability on the specific route,
atmosphere, the company notes. Electric-driven factory to save energy. and guarantees that operation is performed without
machines are used in all facilities and recycled To take even more advantage of the natural any disturbance to the shipment, Hånell notes.
paper is sourced near Greenfiber’s plants. “This light, factory employees start work at about Offering low-carbon shipping options is initially
carbon neutral process keeps 160,000 tons of 7:30 a.m. “This is especially important during the an ambitious initiative, but is reflective of Stena
paper out of landfills annually, which is equivalent winter months,” the company notes. “Where we Bulk’s ambition to reduce the environmental
to 2.72 million trees,” Greenfiber states. “You could are located (Brooklyn, N.Y.), it starts to get dark footprint of tanker operations through innovation,

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