Page 257 - 2017 US Professional Signage Catalog

GREEN FRIENDLY / ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Gemini’s Green-Friendly Approach
Over the past decade, the “Green” movement has become a huge part of the design and building process. Gaining in importance in this movement is LEED – the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Developed by the United States Green Building Council, LEED and its rating system provides a set of standards for environmentally sustainable con- struction. While this has prompted many companies to hop on board, Gemini has long been a leading conductor in this area. In fact, we were actively looking for greener solutions before this movement got a head of steam.
As more and more cities and governmental bodies demand that LEED aspects be included in building projects, you’ll be happy to know that everything we make is manufactured in an earth-friendly “Green” manner from beginning to end. That includes using only lead- and mercury-free metals; molten using all-electric, pollution-free furnaces; manufactured
in facilities with a “Green-Star” rating; and using materials that have a high quantity of post-consumer and post-industrial recycled content. At Gemini, we take being “Green” seriously.
Why should this be important to sign professionals? Many local and state governments have already adopted LEED incentive programs. Incentives include tax credits, tax breaks, density bonuses, reduced fees, priority or expedited permitting, free or reduced cost technical assistance, and grants & low interest loans. In addition, many cities with city codes in place are requesting that developers and contractors now design and build green.
LEED can affect you when bidding on jobs because many architects and designers are specifying green-friendly materials in order to earn LEED points. Gemini’s line of recyclable, recycled and regionally manufactured products fits nicely within these guidelines and gives you a competitive op- tion when trying to meet green specifications. Most of our products have a high concentration of recycled materials:
• All cast aluminum and bronze products = 100% pre-consumer content
• Flat cut out aluminum = 60-80% post-consumer and 40-45% pre-consumer content
• Flat cut out bronze, brass and copper = 60-70% post-consumer and 40-45% pre-consumer content
• Stainless steel = 15-30% post-consumer and 10-13% pre-consumer content
• Acrylics = 40-45% pre-consumer content
• CAB (Formed & Injection Molded) products = 55-65% pre-consumer content
Besides our products, the way we operate our production processes also has a Green thumbprint from beginning to end. Our environmental programs get the support at the highest level at Gemini as evidenced by the fact that Gemini’s corporate headquarters in Minnesota earned the coveted title of Green Star Facility. Only 25 companies in the state received this distinction.
Pollution prevention is a key focus in our environmental programs. All of our solvent wastes are reclaimed for re-use on or off-site. By-products such as waste sand and ferric chloride are sent to other manufacturers for reuse. All our finishing and coating processes are filtered with the best available filter media in the market capturing 95-to-99.99% of the particulates. We eliminated a large wastewater generating process by closing the loop on our water jets. We’ll be using even less as we move further towards using more lasers to cut metal.
Energy efficiency is just one more consideration that we take into account to reduce our carbon footprint as a company. We continue to retro-fit our lights to reduce consumption by millions of KWH each year. We are also looking
at many other projects to increase equipment efficiency. When it comes to being a green friendly company, Gemini is truly LEED-ing the way.
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