As the world’s leading commercial flooring manufacturer, Mohawk Group never stands still. Its motto of “Believe in Better” is woven through every facility, emphasized in every department, and crafted in every product and process. And this same attitude is behind the company’s commitment to sustainability.

While other businesses were vaguely pondering sustainability, parent company Mohawk Industries was putting the minds of its employees, its money, and its energy into finding ways to make a difference. It was not an overnight process for a company with more than 37,000 employees in 30 countries, but gradually the company is seeing results.

It is reducing the amount of resources that it uses in its manufacturing processes: Since 2015, its facilities have reduced the amount of water consumed by 277 million gallons. Since 2010, its plants also have reduced GHG intensity by 12.8%, energy intensity by 1.9%, and water intensity by 35%.

Mohawk is also increasing the amount it recycles: 7.1 billion pounds of recycled waste, 500 products with recyclable materials, 5.5 billion plastic bottles recycled annually, and 148.5 million pounds of carpet diverted from landfills with its ReCover recycling program since 2007.

“Mohawk’s sense of responsibility to product transparency encourages us daily to look for ways we can meaningfully set the bar higher for sustainability through innovative products with reduced environmental and social impacts,” said George Bandy, vice president of sustainability at Mohawk. “We seek to produce products that leave not a carbon footprint, but a handprint that gives back more than it takes from the resources of our planet.”

This attitude led to the creation of commercial division Mohawk Group’s Lichen Collection, a modular plank carpet system that has become the first floorcovering to achieve the International Living Future Institute’s Living Product Challenge Petal Certification. Living Products are free of toxins, regenerate nature, and improve the quality of life.

Mohawk employs seven hundred fifty associates in the thirty-six-acre facility manufacturing commercial carpet tile. In achieving the Place Petal, Mohawk looked for ways to create a healthy coexistence between the manufacturer and the natural environment.

What makes Lichen a true Living Product, both inside and out? It began with the design. Mohawk Group commissioned Jason F. McLennan, of McLennan Design and founder of ILFI and the Living Product Challenge, to work with its design team to create the collection. Like Mohawk, McLennan believes that we can be agents of restoration and regeneration, creating a world better than how we found it.

Inspired by the idea of “Nature’s Carpet,” the team looked at natural assemblages of rich multihued, multitextured lichens from extreme climates as the foundation for the look of the collection. “Using biophilic design principles to create the Lichen Collection helps to enrich our connection to the natural world,” said Jackie Dettmar, vice president of design and product development for Mohawk Group.

Lichen consists of three pattern types. The anchor of the collection is a large-scale field of lichen “blooms” that change in shape and form by colorway. Other patterns include a transition style that has less bloom and a style that is solely textured ground. They can be used together as a system or separately, depending on the desired configuration of texture and color.

Lichen is nature’s carpet, and comes in every color of the rainbow. Using a new yarn system of clean bright colors and heathered yarns, the design of Lichen Collection is based on actual Lichen species found in nature.

Innovative precision tufting technology was used to craft the collection, so the textures and colors are more pronounced. Lichen is made with Mohawk’s Duracolor solution-dyed premium nylon yarn for permanent stain resistance, and comes standard on EcoFlex NXT, Mohawk’s Red List Free backing. It is installed with Mohawk’s FlexLok tabs, the only Red List Free installation system in the marketplace. Additional sustainable attributes include an average 55% recycled content, NSF 140 Gold and Green Label Plus certified for IAQ.

Lichen has a net positive impact for people and the environment through innovations in materials, manufacturing, and community involvement. It is manufactured at Mohawk’s Glasgow, Virginia, carpet facility, which is located in biodi­verse and environmentally robust surroundings that allow the employees to experience nature in their daily lives. The setting is a certified wildlife habitat and, since 2011, an official Appalachian Trail Community. Part of all Lichen sales go to support the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, which is dedicated to protecting and preserving the beauty and cultural heritage of the 2200-mile trail, as well as to the World Wildlife Fund for the preservation and conservation of natural habitats.

To save more water than is used to make Lichen, Mohawk retrofitted 140 showerheads in the dormitories at Morehouse College in Atlanta with low-flow fixtures. This partnership will result in the savings of an estimated 1.2 million gallons annually.

Not only does Lichen come with total ingredient transparency through its Declare Label and has Declared Red List free status, but Mohawk is utilizing responsibly sourced packaging with an average 45% recycled content for the tiles.

With the Lichen Collection, Mohawk Group is setting a higher standard to help ensure products contribute to healthy spaces, are designed to inspire, and will give back to the environment more than they take.

To meet the net positive material health imperative, Mohawk conducted an inventory research for all of the raw materials that are in Lichen’s supply chain to verify the absence of any red listed chemicals.

“Lichen isn’t a singular, isolated accomplishment for our talented design team, but a sign of more offerings on the way,” said Dettmar. “Lichen has been a strategic opportunity to introspectively look at different ways we can have a net positive impact on people and the environment, leaving a handprint as we seek to touch the built environment like never before.” 

About Mohawk Group

Mohawk Group, the world’s leading producer and distributor of quality commercial flooring, delivers industry-leading style, cutting-edge innovation, unmatched service and superior sustainability. As the commercial division of Mohawk Industries, Mohawk Group has a heritage of craftsmanship that spans more than 130 years. The company’s enduring family of brands—Mohawk, Karastan and Durkan—are widely regarded as the most trusted names in the commercial flooring business. Together, these brands function beautifully, delivering the perfect flooring solution for all markets and price points. Rounding out its esteemed product offering, Mohawk Group also offers a full spectrum of hard surface flooring products and installation accessories that exceed the most rigorous performance standards. For additional information about its proven design solutions, and to learn more about what is next from Mohawk Group, visit www.mohawkgroup.com or call (800) 554-6637.

This article was first published in the Green Building Alliance’s Viride Magazine.

American manufacturing has been on the decline for decades. Like immigration and healthcare, the nation’s industrial state of affairs has become a recent point of contention, simultaneously an opportunity or a challenge to shape the future of the country’s economy. Pittsburgh has very publicly experienced both sides of this reality—polluted rivers and lead-laden soil along with fair wages and consistent community reinvestment.

Regardless, manufacturing still represents the United States’ largest economic output by a considerable margin, more than the six smallest sectors combined (which include mining, construction, transportation and hospitality). So, perhaps the debate lies not in the acceptance or rejection of manufacturing as a whole, but rather in the character of industrial enterprises and their strategies for growth. In other words, what if manufacturing focused not on doing less harm (i.e., meeting regulations), but instead on positively impacting people and the environment from the top to the bottom of the supply chain? Pittsburgh just might answer this question in real time.

A SHIFT IN THE PARADIGM

Reimagining the relationship between industry and society requires a monumental perspective shift. Rather than calculating how businesses deplete resources, a regenerative approach asks how a system can renew and revitalize the communities that it serves. So what would this look like? Imagine a manufacturer of office chairs. The company starts by assessing the material composition and lifecycle impacts of their chairs’ production, transport, use and disposal. This analysis reveals that the chair’s surface coating contains perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), which are known to accumulate in the human body and contribute to toxic body burden. Additionally, the power tools used to assemble the chairs use a disproportionate amount of energy.

After months of research, testing and implementation, the company rolls out a fundamentally different product. They have removed the PFCs and several other “red listed” chemicals from their chairs, ensuring that assembly workers, residents in their manufacturing communities, and future consumers won’t be exposed to toxins. The company then installed a 775.5 kilowatt photovoltaic system, generating more electricity than it needed for production, which allowed neighboring communities to power their homes with clean electricity. Facility managers also installed skylights over the production area to give workers more access to natural light and planted a pollinator garden to support the proliferation of essential pollinating species like bees and butterflies. The company also built a simple rainwater catchment system that feeds their production needs and turned “nuisance” storm water into a valuable resource. They also filled the adjacent river with oysters to help filter and clean their water source.

Far from representing a utopian manufacturer, this scenario describes the New York-based company Humanscale, which produces the abovementioned Diffrient Smart Chair. Per founder and CEO Robert King, “Being a net-positive manufacturer is not only about reducing harm, but about actively making a positive impact on our communities and the environment. Every time someone makes a purchase, they are not only getting highly functional, healthy products, they are also making a positive contribution to the environment.” Suddenly the dichotomy between environment and economy has a nuanced disruptor.

REGENERATIVE MANUFACTURING IN PITTSBURGH

Humanscale is just one of more than 50 companies rethinking their impact through the Living Product Challenge, a certification process that evaluates products based on their effect on human health and the environment. Now, Pittsburgh manufacturers are angling to be the center of this production revolution. In 2016, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development funded a new initiative called the Pittsburgh Living Product Hub, which is tasked with educating manufacturers about regenerative design. The Hub is run by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) in collaboration with Green Building Alliance, and is working with manufacturers to imagine Living Products. Taking nature as inspiration, Living Products using only renewable energy in production, while enhancing functionality and beauty. From makers and startups to established manufacturers and industry giants, the Hub helps companies to optimize the material impact of their products from production to disposal, retooling existing products and inspiring the creation of new lines.

The Hub is focusing first on the building products sector, reflecting Pittsburgh’s longstanding leadership in metals, coatings, ductwork, glass and insulation. This product concentration geographically corresponds with one of the nation’s strongest green building movements, which saw more than 35 million square feet of space pursuing LEED certification alone.1 Recently completed buildings such as the Tower at PNC Plaza and the Frick Environmental Center, for example, required extensive material vetting to lower the carbon, energy, and water footprints within their supply chains, while ensuring a healthy indoor environment for their occupants. Situated within 500 miles of half of the population of the United States, Pittsburgh-based manufacturers are ideally positioned to capitalize on this market shift by providing healthy and sustainably produced products.

Manufacturing still pumps Western Pennsylvania’s economic pulse, but the energy that flows through it is increasingly renewable, its materials an opportunity for regrowth and revitalization. With advancements in robotics and additive manufacturing, rivers could be lined with facilities that improve water quality, while communities benefit from skilled jobs that stay local. There is a tremendous opportunity to embrace Pittsburgh’s history of leadership in manufacturing with an equitable, regenerative ethos. With careful repositioning, a once-prominent industrial leader stands to yet again forge the foundations of the modern world.

Learn more about the Living Product Expo 2017, held on Sept 12 – 14 in Pittsburgh, and register today! Early bird ends August 1st.

A prominent feature of the Living Product Expo are the products themselves, made with innovative materials by companies who are pushing the limit on healthy products.

Photo: Interface

Interface

Product: Global Change Collection

By moving away from petroleum intensive carpet and radically changing their production process, Interface products embody a commitment to sustainability. Their newest Global Change Collection is an interpretation of biophilic design, with a range of colors, textures and formats in both small scale and bold, graphic aesthetics. Because there is complementarity between the patterns and hues of Global Change, product designer Kari Pei refers to the entire collection as a flexible system across various price points. All seven styles could be specified on a single project, combining to create zones and pathways with fluid transitions across the range. Global Change extends their sustainability mission by employing a solution dyed Universal nylon 6,6 yarn system that boasts a 1:4 carbon dioxide output and 75 percent recycled content. It is also remarkably lightweight, thereby reducing the ecological footprint of shipping.

Photo: Metroflor

Metroflor Corporation

Product: Aspecta

MetroFlor has devoted itself to leading the Luxury vinyl flooring category with new products, designs, and manufacturing methods. Metroflor has been at the forefront of the shift away from phthalate plasticizers in all of their products. Their customer service building, Halstead International, has created an attractive and comfortable, energy-efficient workplace using sustainable materials with a long-term cost benefit. Halstead’s building is Georgia’s Tenth LEED Platinum project and the first for the city of Calhoun, GA.

Photo: Assa Abloy

ASSA ABLOY

Product: EcoFlex Electrified Mortise Lock

ASSA ABLOY is a global leader in door opening solutions, and are making their products a vital component of the green marketplace. The team has included ILFI’s Red List into their own internal ‘red list’ so they can continue to phase out harmful chemicals in their products and processes. ASSA ABLOY is seeking Living Product Challenge certification with their newly re-designed EcoFlex Electrified Mortise Lock.  This lock previously used a solenoid motor, which meant it was pulling power continuously. However, the new design has a step driven motor. Acting like a hybrid car, it pulls enough power from the grid to charge the lock and then waits in low energy standby mode until a user presents an access card. Read more about their products on our TrimTab blog.

Photo: Mohawk

Mohawk Group

Product: Lichen Collection

Last month, the Mohawk Group received Petal Certification for Water, Place, and Health & Happiness in the Living Product Challenge for the Lichen Collection, a modular carpet tile product backed by the company’s EcoFlex NXT backing. Designed by ILFI Founder and Board Chairman Jason F. McLennan, the Lichen Collection incorporates both biophilia and biomimicry, and is designed to be manufactured within the water balance for the site of the factory in Calhoun, Ga. Read more about the collection on our TrimTab blog.

Photo: Lightart

Light Art

Product: LA2

“With discerning expertise in architecture, sculpture, and lighting, we specialize in understanding the vision for space and use the art of light to accentuate the desired aesthetic.” –Ryan Smith, President & Creative Director. The result of LightArt’s research and development, LA2 Technologies applies innovations in electronics, materials, and fabrication techniques to create fixtures that feature integrated, proprietary, solid-state LED systems; thin-gauge, lightweight material in over 1,000 color options; and a modular fabrication process to shorten lead time and minimize waste.They are the first light fixtures to earn LBC Compliant status, are designed and built in Seattle, and are able to be completely recycled, reused, or salvaged when clients are finished with them.

Photo: Armstrong

Armstrong Ceilings

Product: SUSTAIN, a portfolio of ceiling systems

Armstrong World Industries offers the largest portfolio of high-performance ceiling and wall systems available today through their collection of SUSTAIN ceiling systems. The SUSTAIN portfolio contributes to better spaces with a complete offering of mineral fiber, fiberglass, metal ceiling panels, Tectum wall and ceiling panels, trims and transitions, and suspension and drywall systems. These products are free of Red List chemicals per Living Building Challenge 3.0 and have Declare labels – see here for the 22+ Armstrong products with labels.

Photo: Biome

Biome

Product: Taiga T35

Biome has created an autonomous panel of nature that can bioremediate your indoor air pollution: Taiga T35. Using silent fans, Taiga absorbs your indoor air and naturally eliminates Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) created from cooking, cleaning products, and everyday products like carpeting and technology products. It is a fully enclosed system, and so no water line or drainage is required. As an immersive piece of landscaping technology, it automatically cares for 35 plants within its 5 air purification chambers. It’s light enough to hang directly on drywall with only drywall anchors for support. The included Biome LightBar shines a crisp white light on your foliage to ensure optimal health and lower maintenance. And, this product is Declare certified, the first technology company to be LBC compliant!

Photo: Ecobalanza

Ecobalanza

Product: Couture Collection

EcoBalanza is building the world’s most ethical luxury upholstered furniture. For over a decade, EcoBalanza has been sourcing the cleanest and most responsible materials, sourced with quality and integrity in mind. Ethically sourced, natural and organic materials create each of their products including finely crafted and sustainable sofas, chairs, ottomans and headboards. The Couture Collection consists of luxurious custom-made green upholstered furniture that can meet your personal preferences. Key features of each Couture piece include eight-way hand-tied coil springs system, under-upholstery layer with certified organic cotton twill and endless customization.

Photo: Teknion

Teknion

Product: Metropolitan ’14

Advancing sustainability is ingrained in the company culture. Teknion’s priorities as manufacturers are to minimize the environmental impact of their work and advance sustainability efforts within the industry as a whole. Eighty percent of Teknion’s component parts are manufactured in-house which provides greater control for them to challenge the status quo. Metropolitan ’14 is a fully upholstered rotating chair with a fully integrated seat cushion. According to Teknion, “the hallmark of the Metropolitan ’14 is the uniform flow of the seat into the armrests, creating a perfect nest for comfort and relaxation.”

Photo: Humanscale

Humanscale

Product: Diffrient Smart Chair and Float Table

To achieve the standards set by the Living Product Challenge (LPC), Jane Abernethy and her staff made significant changes to Humanscale’s facilities, implementing solar panels and a rainwater-capture system. The team also studied the lifecycle of each ingredient in every part of Humanscale’s products and found alternative materials or methods of production if anything was deemed harmful to people or the environment. In 2016, two of their products were the first to be certified under LPC: the Diffrient Smart Chair and the Float Table. At Neocon, Humanscale is introducing the World Chair, made in partnership with Bureo, who is supplying NetPlus, a material made by recycling discarded commercial fishing nets.” One of the company’s primary goals for 2017 is to ensure that its lighting offerings contain zero red-list (harmful) materials. For more on Humanscale’s endeavors, see their commitment to the LPC in this video.

Learn more about the Living Product Expo 2017, held on Sept 12 – 14 in Pittsburgh, and register today! Early bird ends August 1st.

The Living Product Challenge (LPC), introduced in 2015, is growing and scaling thanks to the commitment of courageous companies who are redesigning products and processes to work within natural and social systems, it was announced at Neocon World Trade Fair today. Neocon exhibitors Mohawk and Humanscale both debuted products created under the Living Product Challenge. Additionally, the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) announced partnerships with leading product certification companies, growing the ecosystem for companies who are exploring the outer edges of regenerative manufacturing and design.

LPC Director James Connelly will be on hand at Neocon, in the Mohawk (#377) showroom on (2:00-5:00pm, Monday, June 12th and 11:30am-2:00pm,Tuesday, June 13th) and in the Humanscale (#351) showroom (4:00-5:00pm, Tuesday, June 13th).

“Our vision for the Living Product Challenge is not only to redesign products and manufacturing so that they work as elegantly as any system found in nature, but also to make it easy for manufacturers to successfully create Living Products,” said Amanda Sturgeon FAIA, CEO of ILFI. “By partnering with leading certification companies, we are making the barrier to entry more accessible for visionary manufacturers.”

 New Living Products in the Marketplace at Neocon

“Mohawk and Humanscale — who are part of the LP50 – the vanguard of regenerative manufacturing are both demonstrating the power of possibility with new Living Product introductions,” said James Connelly, director of LPC for the ILFI.

Mohawk Group Debuts the Lichen Collection, designed by Jason F. McLennan

Mohawk Group has received Petal Certification for Water, Place, and Health & Happiness in the Living Product Challenge for the Lichen Collection, a modular carpet tile product backed by the company’s EcoFlex NXT backing. Designed by ILFI Founder and Board Chairman Jason F. McLennan, the Lichen Collection incorporates both biophilia and biomimicry, and is designed to be manufactured within the water balance for the site of the factory in Calhoun, Ga.

The company has also showcased their social responsibility by offsetting the product’s water footprint through a water handprint at Morehouse College in Atlanta, where Mohawk invested in upgrades to plumbing fixtures to achieve water efficiencies on campus. Finally, Mohawk is donating a portion of product revenue to habitat preservation and restoration through the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, a protected natural resource with a trailhead that is visible from the company’s design center.

“In partnering with Jason McLennan, we knew we wanted to create more than something stylish and sustainable. We understood our duty to envision and manufacture something that would help take us along this continued journey to more sustainable design and business practices, said Jackie Dettmar, Mohawk Group vice president of design and development. “This isn’t a singular, isolated accomplishment for our talented design team, but a sign of more offerings on the way. Lichen has been a strategic opportunity to introspectively look at different ways we can have a net positive impact on people and the environment, leaving a positive ‘handprint’ as we seek to touch the built environment like never before.”

Humanscale Debuts the World Chair in Partnership with Bureo

“Too often we get caught in the trap of thinking in terms of trade-offs. And one of the ways in which the Living Product Challenge can have significant impact is by proving that products don’t have to make compromises – products can achieve a true, net positive social, environmental and financial impact,” said Connelly. “With that in mind, we recently presented the Living Product Challenge Manufacturer’s Visionary Award to Humanscale, a company that courageously pursued full LPC certification for its most complicated products. Now they are working to make their entire product line red list free, meaning that they will work with their supply chain to ensure that every ingredient that goes into their products is nontoxic.”

At Neocon, Humanscale is introducing the World Chair, made in partnership with Bureo, who is supplying NetPlus, a material made by recycling discarded commercial fishing nets.”

For more on Humanscale’s endeavors, see their commitment to the LPC in this video. 

Living Product Challenge Partners with Leading Certifiers

“The LPC is asking manufacturers to do something they may have never done before which can be both scary and exciting,” said James Connelly. “Our goal is to create an ecosystem of services that makes it easier for manufacturers to explore the possibilities, and with that in mind, we have partnered with leading certification companies and are working with them to streamline our process as we iterate on the LPC standard and create a common understanding of what it means, for example to design and manufacture a Net Positive product.”

Certification partners include:

WAP Sustainability, who provide both technical and strategic competencies, particularly in the area of life cycle analysis and data.

ToxServices, experts in toxicology, risk assessment and comparative hazard assessment.

GreenCircle Certified, who are known for a rigorous evaluation process provides independent verification that claims of sustainable aspects of products and operations are valid.

SCS Global Services, who provide third party certification of sustainability claims, with a particular emphasis on Net Positive certification for LPC.

“We applaud ILFI’s collaborative approach to developing a harmonized standard that considers industry leading sustainability programs that manufacturers are already engaged in”, said William Paddock, Managing Director of WAP Sustainability. “Manufacturers can leverage their existing efforts with the Living Product Challenge and move from analytics to action by pursuing imperatives such as red list free, net positive impact categories, and creating positive handprints.”

“The Living Product Challenge drives the building industry to re-imagine the design and construction of products. Through this forward-thinking product certification program, companies can demonstrate their leadership and commitment to sustainability. SCS is proud to be a certification partner for ILFI,” says Stanley Mathuram, SCS Global Services, Vice President.

Want to learn more about the Living Product Challenge? Download your free guide to healthier products, the new Living Product Challenge 1.1 Standard.

“Too often we get caught in the trap of thinking in terms of trade-offs – and one of the ways in which the Living Product Challenge can have significant impact is by proving that products don’t have to make compromises – products can achieve a true, net positive social, environmental and financial impact,” said Connelly.

“With that in mind, the Living Product Challenge Manufacturer’s Visionary Award is presented to Humanscale, a company that courageously pursued full LPC certification for its most complicated products,” said Connelly. “Now they are working to make their entire product line red list free, meaning that they will work with their supply chain to ensure that every ingredient that goes into their products is nontoxic.”

For more on Humanscale’s endeavors, see their LPC video here.

Vitro Architectural Glass (formerly PPG Glass) has been named the first founding sponsor of the Living Product Hub in Pittsburgh, opening April 18. The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) and Pittsburgh’s Green Building Alliance (GBA) are establishing the hub to accelerate the development of regenerative buildings and manufacturing.

Co-located on Pittsburgh’s South Side with the GBA, the hub will serve as a center of education and outreach, connecting innovative buildings, communities, and projects to ILFI’s global network. It will be one of four such centers in the United States.

ILFI is known worldwide for administering the Living Building Challenge (LBC), a rigorous green building certification program that requires buildings to comply with 20 imperatives in seven building performance categories including place, energy, water, health and happiness, materials, equity, and beauty.

The Center for Sustainable Landscapes at Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh is one of the few buildings in the world to achieve the highest LBC certification. Contributing to its achievement are high-performance Solarban® 60, Sungate® 400 and Starphire Ultra-Clear glasses by Vitro Glass.

Richard A. Beuke, vice president, Vitro Architectural Glass, said Vitro Glass is honored to be a founding sponsor of Pittsburgh’s Living Product Hub. “First as PPG Glass and now as Vitro Glass, our company has been part of the city’s fabric since 1883. Our products are integral to the performance of Pittsburgh’s most globally recognized green buildings, including the Center for Sustainable Landscapes, David L. Lawrence Convention Center and The Tower at PNC Plaza, considered the world’s greenest office tower. We look forward to supporting the ILFI and GBA as they promote Pittsburgh’s legacy as a center for green building innovation.”

James Connelly, director of the Living Product Challenge for ILFI, said Vitro Glass is the perfect fit as a founding sponsor for Pittsburgh’s Living Product Hub. “Vitro Glass products have been used on three buildings around the world that are certified at the LBC’s highest level, an achievement that speaks not just to the company’s commitment to making sustainable glass products, but to the high level of trust architects and practitioners have in their performance.”

The Living Product Hub in Pittsburgh will host an opening reception on April 18 at Phipps Conservatory. The event starts at 5 p.m. Registration is open to the public.

For more information about Vitro Architectural Glass Products, visit www.vitroglazings.com or call (855) VTRO-GLS (887-6457).

About the Living Product Challenge

The Living Product Challenge re-imagines the design and construction of products to function as elegantly and efficiently as anything found in the natural world. The creation of this program kicked off a groundbreaking new event that brought together leading minds in the product industry to inspire a revolution in the way materials are designed, manufactured and delivered: the Living Product Expo.

About Vitro Architectural Glass

Vitro Architectural Glass, part of Vitro, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV:VITROA), is a new organization created from Vitro’s acquisition of PPG’s flat glass business unit. Now the largest company of its kind in the Americas, Vitro Architectural Glass manufactures industry-leading brands such as Solarban®, Sungate® and Starphire Ultra-Clear glasses at U.S. plants in Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Fresno, California; Salem, Oregon; and Wichita Falls, Texas. The company also operates one of the world’s largest glass research and development facilities in Pittsburgh and four residential glass fabrication plants in Canada. For more information, please visit vitroglazings.com.

Pittsburgh is the birthplace of American manufacturing and a city with a vision to reimagine itself as a center for innovation, green manufacturing, and job creation. The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) is partnering with Green Building Alliance (GBA) to help make this vision a reality through the creation of a Living Product “Hub”. Co-located at GBA’s office in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood, the Hub will serve as a center of education and outreach, connecting innovative buildings, communities, and projects to the Institute’s network in order to accelerate regenerative buildings and manufacturing.

“The Hub will support Pittsburgh’s ongoing efforts to reinvent itself as a place where innovation and invention meet the future,” said James Connelly, Director of the Living Product Challenge for ILFI. “Through the Living Product Challenge—our aspirational framework for rethinking product design and manufacturing—and the Declare label program, we will provide hands-on assistance to companies who are committed to creating transparent, nontoxic and sustainable products.”

ILFI will partner with Green Building Alliance to implement the Living Product Hub and add regenerative content, GBA’s existing educational events, technical support, and resources. Through this mutually supportive collaboration, ILFI and GBA will advance their missions and accelerate sustainable development across Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and beyond.

“We are thrilled to be working with Green Building Alliance to help realize the next generation of regenerative Living Buildings, Communities, and Products”, added Amanda Sturgeon CEO of ILFI. “With world leading projects at Phipps Conservatory and the Frick Environmental Center–and innovative organizations like GBA, Pittsburgh is already ahead of the curve. We are excited to build on that success.”

“We are always working to advance green buildings and sustainable development for all through innovation,” said Dr. Aurora Sharrard, Executive Director of GBA. “We are excited to partner with the Institute to bring their vision, ideas, and programs to Pennsylvania in a manner that enhances past and existing efforts, while supporting product manufacturers and researchers in adding greater transparency and environmental intention to the built environment’s supply chain.”

ILFI will also create an advisory board for the Living Product Hub comprised of Pittsburgh sustainability leaders drawn from business, academia, government, nonprofits, and foundations. The advisory board will support the Hub by providing strategic advice, connection, and support to ensure the initiative’s success in supporting the Pittsburgh region’s ongoing transformational green story.

To kick off this collaboration, ILFI and GBA will host a Hub launch at the Phipps Conservatory, April 18^th from 5-7pm. Join us to learn more about this exciting initiative and connect with ILFI and GBA leadership.

The International Living Future Institute announced that the Living Product Challenge and Declare are now recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in its Recommendations of Specifications, Standards and Ecolabels for federal purchasers.

The recommendations, which help federal purchasers identify and procure environmentally sustainable products and services, include the Living Product Challenge and Declare as recommended standards for a range of low-emitting materials including carpet, flooring products, furniture, and interior latex paint.

“We designed the Living Product Challenge and Declare to transform the building materials marketplace through innovation, transparency and the highest standards of health and toxic chemical avoidance,” said James Connelly, Director of the Living Product Challenge for the ILFI. “We thank the EPA for their extensive work to identify standards and ecolabels that encourage the U.S. federal government – one of the world’s biggest materials markets – to measurably improve its environmental performance, and we are thrilled that the Living Product Challenge and Declare are a part of this initiative.”

Humanscale, Bureo, Owens Corning and Garden Tower Project have received Living Product certification for new and redesigned products that meet the high bar of the Living Product Challenge, that is, to design and manufacture products that function as elegantly and efficiently as anything found in the natural world. Turning inspiration into action, these forward-thinking companies were awarded new certifications at the second annual Living Product Expo, hosted by the International Living Future Institute September 13-15, 2016, in Pittsburgh. For more information, visit the website.

“These leading companies are writing a new chapter in industrial design and challenging the status quo when it comes to how products are designed, sourced and manufactured.” said James Connelly, Director of the Living Product Challenge for the Institute. “And, they are at the Living Product Expo to share and discover disruptive new ideas and technologies that are reshaping the materials landscape, accelerating the pace of transformation and making Living Products possible today.”

The full list of newly certified Living Products includes:

Left to Right: Jane Abernathy, HumanScale; Amanda Sturgeon, ILFI; Richard Piacentini, Phipps Conservatory; James Connelly, ILFI

Humanscale Diffrient^® Smart Chair — Full Living Product certification
The Humanscale Smart^® Chair is an ergonomically designed commercial desk chair that required a significant redesign on the path to Living Product Certification. Often, commercial office chairs are covered with fabrics that contain perfluorinated compounds. These chemicals, according to the National Institutes of Health, contribute to the body burden of toxicity and have a several year half-life, which means that the time it takes for the chemicals to leave the body can be several years. Humanscale has eliminated perfluorinated compounds from the redesigned Smart^® Chair, which is manufactured in a solar powered facility with a newly installed rainwater collection system that offsets the water used in production.

Humanscale Float Table — Full Living Product certification
The Float Table is an innovative sit/stand desk that ‘floats’ effortlessly when you push a small lever, contributing to an ergonomically superior sit/stand work experience. Humanscale removed PVC from the product—a material with significant lifecycle health concerns—and is working to ensure the remaining product ingredients are fully optimized and safe for humans and the environment. The product is manufactured in a process powered by 100% renewable energy onsite. “The lifecycle health benefits of using this product versus traditional tables is massively positive when compared to the potential health consequences of tradition design and production,” said Connelly.

“Both newly-certified Humanscale products are not only Net Positive for Water and Energy onsite – but we have conducted a rigorous LCA on each product and are now working to create Energy, Water and Carbon Handprints greater than the footprint of each product,” said Jane Abernethy, Humanscale’s sustainability officer. “We are increasing our handprint by switching to recycled nylon made from fishing nets from Bureo, teaming up with Kohler and an NGO to supply Clarity water filters, and providing water heater blankets to school children.” The practice of Handprinting refers to the measurement of positive impacts that a company makes compared to business as usual in addition to reducing their environmental footprint. More on the Humanscale achievement here.

Left to Right: Ben Kneppers, Bureo; Amanda Sturgeon, ILFI; Richard Piacentini, Phipps Conservatory

Bureo – Net+Positiva Plastic — Petal Certified for Water and Materials
Bureo is a unique company designed around the concept of net positive, and its first product was a skateboard made of recycled fishing nets from coastal artisanal fishing communities, which has been widely recognized for ingenuity in design and sourcing, with investors including the Patagonia $20 Million and Change Fund. Bureo has achieved Living Product Petal Certification for Water and Materials for its Net+Positiva Plastic, recycled plastic resin and pellets which they source from fishing nets, and which they intend to sell to other consumer goods companies to scale up their business.

“Bureo recently installed low flow shower heads in their production facility and is planning to distribute them in communities in which they work, which contributed to the Water Petal certification,” said Connelly. “Bureo is also investing in a solar array for a nearby community school for disadvantaged youth, which will contribute to the company’s full Living Product Certification.”

Left to Right: Nasreen Olang, Owens Corning; Amanda Sturgeon, ILFI; Richard Piacentini, Phipps Conservatory; James Connelly, ILFI

Owens Corning® EcoTouch® PINK® Fiberglas Insulation – Unfaced – Living Product Imperative Certification
With EcoTouch® unfaced fiberglass insulation, Owens Corning achieves its second Living Product Imperative Certification for a product that reflects the company’s long-term commitment to sustainability. EcoTouch® is a residential and commercial insulation product that is certified to include a minimum of 65% total recycled content^, and is GREENGUARD validated to be formaldehyde free.

“Owens Corning’s commitment to sustainability is embedded in the foundation of its product stewardship process,” said Connelly. “A core value of the company is developing products that make the world a better place.”

Left to Right: Joel Grant and Amy Rhodes, Garden Tower; Amanda Sturgeon, ILFI; Richard Piacentini, Phipps Conservatory

Garden Tower Project – Living Product Petal Certification for Water and Materials
Garden Tower is committed to socially-responsible practices at every level, and has a mission to help transform the face of gardening and food sustainability. The uniquely designed composting Garden Tower allows for the growing of a large variety of food in a very small space. The product has achieved Petal Certification for Water and Materials, and the company is currently implementing a new low-carbon, bio-based plastic, a first for its product category.

“Garden Tower’s social mission is just as critical to the company’s certification as is their material health and regenerative manufacturing innovations,” said James Connelly. “It is a great example of a new product that has the power to transform traditional industries.”

About the Living Product Challenge
The Living Product Challenge re-imagines the design and construction of products to function as elegantly and efficiently as anything found in the natural world. The creation of this program kicked off a groundbreaking new event that brought together leading minds in the product industry to inspire a revolution in the way materials are designed, manufactured and delivered: the Living Product Expo.

At the first event in 2015 sustainability directors from the world’s leading design firms, prominent manufacturers and sustainability consultants learned about and shared game-changing innovations in product design.

This second annual event moves from inspiration to action. The Expo is an opportunity for participants to share and discover disruptive new ideas and technologies that are reshaping the materials landscape, accelerating the pace of innovation and making Living Products possible today. Join us, and together we will craft the future of materials.

About the International Living Future Institute
The International Living Future Institute is an inspiring hub for visionary programs. Our mission is to lead and support the transformation toward communities that are socially just, culturally rich and ecologically restorative. Com­posed of leading green building experts and thought-leaders, the Institute is premised on the belief that providing a compelling vision for the future is a fundamental requirement for reconciling humanity’s relationship with the natural world. The Institute runs the Living Building Challenge, Living Community Challenge, Living Product Challenge, Net Zero Energy Certification, the Cascadia Green Building Coun­cil, Ecotone Publishing, Declare, JUST and other leading-edge programs. A global network of nearly 700 volunteers across nearly 42 countries drive the local adoption of restorative principles in their com­munities.

Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) develops, manufactures and markets insulation, roofing, and fiberglass composites. Global in scope and human in scale, the company’s market-leading businesses use their deep expertise in materials, manufacturing and building science to develop products and systems that save energy and improve comfort in commercial and residential buildings. Ultimately, Owens Corning’s people and products make the world a better place. Based in Toledo, Ohio, Owens Corning posted 2015 sales of $5.4 billion and employs about 16,000 people in 25 countries.

Owens Corning, the pioneer of fiberglass, created EcoTouch® Batt Insulation with PureFiber® Technology, a revolutionary new product platform that includes an average of 65% recycled content, with minimum of 47% post-consumer recycled glass. The balance is 18% pre-consumer recycled glass content.[1] The product meets the strict certification standards for indoor air quality, is validated formaldehyde free and carries the GreenGuard Gold certification. EcoTouch® Insulation with PureFiber® continues to deliver the energy-saving and acoustical performance, as well as the installation ease our customers expect from Owens Corning. EcoTouch® Insulation with PureFiber® Technology has even been named the greenest insulation by Green Builder magazine[2] and is the only fiberglass insulation product listed in the USDA Bio-Preferred Catalog because of its bio-based binder.

EcoTouch® Insulation with PureFiber® continues to deliver energy-saving and acoustical performance, as well as the installation ease our customers expect from Owens Corning.EcoTouch® Insulation[3]:

• Is preferred by 2 out of 3 professional installers over all fiberglass insulation competitors for ease of handling and installation[4].
• Is easier to cut and split with less dust than other fiberglass insulation products.
• Installs faster than other fiberglass insulation products.
• Completely fills the cavity, eliminating gaps and the need for additional handwork.
• Is easily cut and split to insulate odd shaped cavities and around outlets, switches and other small spaces.

EcoTouch® Insulation with PureFiber® Technology manufactured in Owens Corning’s Santa Clara, California plant was chosen for the Living Product Challenge (LPC). The plant has been in continuous operation since July 5, 1949, is nearly waste-free and employs well-trained and engaged support staff. These factors made the product and facility combination a clear choice for the LPC.

The engagement began with a stakeholder meeting at Owens Corning’s Science and Technology Center in Granville, Ohio, in early 2015. At that time, Owens Corning stakeholders learned about the vision, mission, potential value and traction of the LPC. Near the end of the year, it was announced at the LPC conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that Owens Corning had decided to extend its sustainability commitment and participate in the LPC.

EcoTouch® PINK® FIBERGLAS Insulation with PureFiber® Technology

Imperative Certified

Living Product Challenge 1.0 Pilot

Performance Areas
Place • Health + Happiness • Materials • Equity • Beauty

Place

I-01 RESPONSIBLE PLACE AND HABITAT IMPACTS [5]

Built in 1949, the Owens Corning Santa Clara, California plant was the first industrial plant in the United States designed specifically for the manufacture of insulation, as opposed to a converted glass bottling plant. The product ingredients are mostly inorganic and bio based materials and are not derived from endangered sources.

Owens Corning’s Santa Clara plant sits on 41.88 acres in Santa Clara County, California. The manufacturing facility constitutes over 17 acres of the land. Owens Corning does a biodiversity assessment for all of its sites. Santa Clara is not within 50 miles of any areas of ecological sensitivity or historical significance as defined by the following lists:

• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites and Biosphere Sites.
• Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971) – called the Ramsar Convention. The Convention lists Wetland of International Importance.
• Natura 2000 List – Protected ecological areas in the European Union.
• Alliance for Zero Extinction’s (AZE) list of epicenters of imminent extinctions

Owens Corning is committed to preserving the natural habitats that surround its operations around the world. An annual biodiversity assessment is completed by each plant; as of 2016, Owens Corning is in the process of developing and supporting company-wide biodiversity goals.

In 2015, Owens Corning began a partnership with the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) to standardize the approach to biodiversity throughout the company, develop biodiversity action plans using external expertise and site visits, and work towards third party WHC certification.

Health + Happiness  

Owens Corning products, created from abundant materials such as sand, have the potential to transform people’s relationship to help improve the comfort of the building occupants. Owens Corning® insulation products improve the comfort of the building occupants by serving as a means to help control thermal transfer to the living space and save energy in regulating that temperature. Additionally, insulation products serve to reduce noise transfer, helping to create acoustics or quiet spaces for living and working.

Owens Corning is committed to the principles of environmental sustainability, product stewardship and to the safety and health of its employees.

To ensure a continuing commitment to these principles, Owens Corning is dedicated to:

Safety and Health:

• Providing safe working conditions.
• Promoting the health and well-being of our employees.

Environmental Protection and Sustainability:

• Conserving resources, preventing waste, reducing greenhouse gases, and protecting the environment and our local communities.
• Continual improvement in our Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) performance and pollution-prevention efforts.
• Use third-party organizations to test and certify product attributes and to disclose their environmental and human health impacts.

Product Stewardship:

• Providing products that are safe and environmentally sound to make, use, and dispose of; and that perform as claimed.
• Providing useful information on the performance and safe use of our products.

Since 2008, Owens Corning has offered different resources and incentives to motivate employees to reach their health goals. The company has various wellness programs for employees to participate in, and will expand its efforts with the development of six wellness pillars and corresponding teams to manage them:

• Know Your Numbers
• Healthy Mind
• Physical Activity
• Nutrition (Santa Clara plant has a free “healthy options” lunch and breakfast offering each day for employees)
• Tobacco-Free
• Financial Health

As a part of its wellness programs, Owens Corning encourages outdoor activities and creates spaces at its locations for employee interaction and exercise. Owens Corning is committed to preserving the natural habitats that surround its operations.

I-05 NET POSITIVE MATERIAL HEALTH

Owens Corning is committed to meeting the Net Positive Material Health Imperative by maintaining a strict standard of safety and a responsibility to its workforce that they return home to their families in the same condition as when they arrived at the start of the workday. The company believes that its commitment to safety is unconditional and that all accidents are preventable. As a result of the pervasive safety culture, Owens Corning has had zero recorded fatalities for contractors and employees in over a decade. There has been one recordable injury at Santa Clara plant since November 2015. The injury encouraged the plant to identify more ways to prevent future injuries. The manufacturing of EcoTouch® Insulation with PureFiber® Technology has been purposefully designed to incorporate significant automated features to reduce the opportunity for injury and human error.

This product was assessed for material health through the Cradle to Cradle Product Innovation Institute and was certified at the Gold level [6]. The product is fully optimized, meaning that ingredients and process chemicals are optimal or acceptable for use. This assessment covered 100% of the materials at 100ppm.

I-06 HUMAN THRIVING

Owens Corning actively manages its nature and environmental impacts and has achieved a continuous reduction of manufacturing impact starting with a 2002 baseline. Aspects include waste, air emissions, water use, energy, and greenhouse gases. One company goal is to achieve zero waste at all of its facilities; the Santa Clara plant is well along the path of achieving a waste-free process for the EcoTouch® Insulation with PureFiber® Technology product line. In 2015, Santa Clara plant diverted 94% of the waste away from the landfill. The plant uses state-of-the-art automated equipment throughout which minimizes human interaction with the process. The reduced number of touch points help to create a safe environment and minimize repetitive tasks.

Owens Corning encourages increased interaction with nature in its employee’s work and personal life. The company has instituted wellness programs and healthy living incentives to promote healthy lifestyle choices for employees. Employees are encouraged to maintain a healthy body weight with programs such as the annual Fat Out competition. Each year, the company distributes pedometers and coordinates scheduled weigh-ins to track employee progress towards their fitness goals. Participation in the program has been as high as 30% in recent years. Finally, the company’s wellness program has been a vehicle for motivation. Santa Clara plant has a free “healthy options” lunch and breakfast offering each day for employees to encourage healthy eating habits.

Materials

Owens Corning uses third-party organizations to test and certify product attributes and to disclose environmental and human health impacts. These certifications ensure that products meet a certain standard of recycled content, are low emitting after installation and have other features that may be of interest to architects, builders, installers and consumers. The Product Stewardship process ensures products are safe and environmentally sound to make, use, and dispose of; and perform as claimed.

Furthermore, Owens Corning’s approach to achieving the Materials Petal Imperatives is highlighted by showcasing the company’s initiatives to cultivate a responsible materials economy. Owens Corning’s EcoTouch® Insulation with PureFiber® Technology is largely created from abundant materials such as sand. Raw materials like sand and high levels of recycled glass content combine to minimize adverse impacts from a material resource perspective.

The commitment to using responsible materials is important to Owens Corning. This product was assessed for material health through the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute and was certified at the Gold level.

The product development team’s insight is in direct alignment with the Materials Petal Imperatives through the use of human centered design. The product is designed and manufactured to be used in a variety of applications that easily meet the insulating needs for attics, walls and other locations.

Overall, EcoTouch® Insulation products have socially equitable automated manufacturing and appropriately manage resource depletion through the high level of recycled content. The market-leading product is also a leader in terms of the equitable use of natural resources, materials usage, product design and innovative industrial practices.

I-07 RED LIST

Owens Corning uses third-party organizations to test and certify product attributes and to disclose environmental and human health impacts. There are several transparency paths used for Owens Corning products and many of them are market driven. As consumer demand for product transparency has increased, the company has implemented transparency initiatives to meet the demand. Owens Corning is on the leading edge and readily makes the commitment to expand its transparency offerings where they have value in the marketplace. EcoTouch® Insulation products are/have[7]:

• GREENGUARD Certified® and GREENGUARD Gold Certified℠, (EcoTouch® Unfaced Batts and EcoTouch® Faced Batts and Rolls).
• GREENGUARD validated Formaldehyde Free (EcoTouch® Unfaced and EcoTouch® Faced Batts and Rolls).
• UL Certified Environmental Product Declaration in accordance with ISO 14025 (EcoTouch® Faced and Unfaced insulation).
• UL Environment EcoLogo CCD-106 (EcoTouch® Faced and Unfaced insulation).
• Recycled content verified by SCS Global Services; Scientific Certification Systems SCS-MC-01025, SCS Certified minimum 65% recycled glass content (with at least 41% post-consumer recycled and the balance of pre-consumer recycled glass content), applies to EcoTouch® Unfaced Batts and Rolls.
• USDA Certified Biobased Products: EcoTouch® unfaced – 98%

Additionally, the product:

• Achieved the Gold level of the Material Health Certification from the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute[8]; and
• Approved for the National Green Building Standard; and
• Qualified under the Seal and Insulate with ENERGY STAR® program.
• As a part of pursuing the Living Product Challenge, Owens Corning has obtained DECLARE labels for EcoTouch® Insulation products[9].

I-08 LIVING ECONOMY SOURCING

Final percent by weight sourced from each zone (list):

1000 km radius: 8-25%
2000 km radius: 25-75%
5000 km radius: 0-36%

Material; % by Weight; Source Location; Distance(km); Distance Range

Cullet; 25-75%; North America; 16-1290km; 2000 km

Sand; 8-25%; North America; 16-400km; 1000 km

Borates; 10-30%; Global; 560-9980km; any location

Soda Ash; 0.5-6%; North America; 560-3220km; 5000 km

Other Oxides; 1-2%; North America; 360-3220km; 5000 km

Limestone; 0-5%; North America; 200-320km; 5000 km

Carbohydrate Polyol; 2-10%; North America; 800-3540km; 5000 km

Bio-Based Polycarboxylic Acid; 1-5%; North America; 320-3220km; 5000 km

Cure Accelerator; 0.2-1%; North America; 400-3700km; 5000 km

Surfactant; 0-0.1%; North America; 640-3700km; 5000 km

Vegetable Oil; 0-3.5%; North America; 800-3540km; 5000 km

Silane; 0.03-0.1%; North America; 400-4350km; 5000 km

Pink Colorant; 0.1-0.2%; North America; 560-4500km; 5000 km

I-09 RESPONSIBLE INDUSTRY

Owens Corning’s EcoTouch® Insulation with PureFiber® Technology uses materials that are in abundant supply and leverage high levels of recycled content. Sand is a major raw material in glass manufacturing and Owens Corning is committed to seek out sources in reasonable proximity to its operations. Purchasing recycled glass prevents material from being sent to landfill while serving as an outlet for glass that is no longer in service. EcoTouch® Insulation with PureFiber® Technology uses a bio-based binder.

The company is also committed to fair labor practices and is a signatory to the UN Global Compact. The Santa Clara plant is staffed by workers that are local to the Santa Clara, community and wages are equitable for the area. The Owens Corning Human Rights policy is in effect and complies with reporting on Conflict Minerals. Materials used for this product are not derived from vulnerable or endangered sources. A Declare Label was issued for EcoTouch® Insulation with PureFiber® Technology in 2016.

Declare ID: OWC-0003

I-11 NET POSITIVE WASTE

One company goal is to achieve zero waste at all our facilities; the Santa Clara plant is well along the path of achieving a waste free process for the EcoTouch® Insulation with PureFiber® Technology product line. In 2015, Santa Clara plant diverted 94% of the waste from the landfill. The company uses recycled content in the form of purchased cullet in the manufacture of fiberglass products and works to reduce waste from the line by recycling scrap material back in to the process, where feasible.

I-12 PRODUCT FIT TO USE

Owens Corning building insulation products are designed to help save energy through the life of the building, approximately 60 years. The products undergo rigorous internal competitive audits to ensure that the company is providing the best product to its customers. Design teams travel throughout the year visiting facilities to quantify the quality of our product and its fitness. Products are evaluated based on critical product performance characteristics, insulating R-value, installation ease and other characteristics.

Product Stewardship reviews are required for all new and modified products. These rigorous reviews ensure that products are safe and environmentally sound to make, use, and dispose of; and perform as claimed. Information on the performance and safe use of the products is also part of the review process.

Testing product fitness for use is also important from a research and development standpoint. Products are tested throughout the development process to identify any potential defects early in product design. The test-and-learn strategy is used to allow innovative ideas to emerge with little downside risk. The pervasive testing culture encourages innovation from the lab bench that is manifested on the production line.

Equity

I-14 EQUITABLE PRODUCT ACCESS [10]

Owens Corning’s materials are broadly available to the market through a variety of channels, both direct and through other distribution channels, lumber yards and also home centers across the United States. Owens Corning prices its products in a fair and lawful manner and we believe the prices for our products are in line with prevailing market prices in the regions where such products are sold.

I-15 RESPONSIBLE CO-PRODUCTS

Owens Corning does not directly engage in any of the following activities:

• Make weapons or armaments of any kind;
• Produce tobacco products, pornography, violent video games, or illicit drugs;
• Engage in fossil fuel extraction;
• Engage in nuclear energy production or nuclear weapons manufacturing;
• Engage in or facilitate prostitution, payday lending, gambling or the patenting of life; or
• Charge interest rates significant in excess of market peers for comparable offerings.

Owens Corning demonstrates consistent responsibility across its entire operations footprint.

Beauty

I-19 BEAUTY + SPIRIT

Insulation products have the potential to influence an individual’s relationship to the natural world through their design. Owens Corning’s EcoTouch® Insulation with PureFiber® Technology are artfully designed and pleasing to use.

EcoTouch® Insulation[11]:

• Is preferred by 2 out of 3 professional installers over all fiberglass insulation competitors for ease of handling and installation.
• Is easier to cut and split with less dust than other fiberglass insulation products.
• Installs faster than other fiberglass insulation products.
• Completely fills the cavity, eliminating gaps and the need for additional handwork.
• Is easily cut and split to insulate odd shaped cavities and around outlets, switches and other small spaces.

EcoTouch® Insulation with PureFiber® Technology is an innovative solution to compete with a variety of materials for insulating walls, ceilings and under roof decks. It is designed with variety of insulation values (R- values) to meet needs for any insulation applications and code requirements. Professionals prefer Owens Corning EcoTouch® PINK® FIBERGLAS Insulation with PureFiber® Technology because it is easy to handle and install.

The beauty of the product is evident in its leveraging of minute details to the benefit of the DIY homeowner and remodeling contractor. By keeping the end user in mind, Owens Corning exemplified how innovative, human centered design can bring beauty to building materials.

I-20 INSPIRATION + EDUCATION

LPC Page URL: http://sustainability.owenscorning.com/product-sustainability/

SUMMARY OF PROCESS AND BENEFIT OF PURSUING LIVING PRODUCT CHALLENGE:

Owens Corning’s participation in the Living Product Challenge has been enlightening and empowering. The iterative process allowed us to feel a sense of ownership. We were able to effectively tailor the program in order for the stringent requirements to be applicable to the supply chain and standards within the insulation industry. The company is proud to pilot the program as it exemplifies our commitment to be on the leading edge of sustainability and forward thinking. We are honored and excited to show the sustainable aspects of our products and how they can contribute to a sustainably built infrastructure.

[1] http://www.scscertified.com/products/cert_pdfs/OwensCorning_2015_SCS-MC-01025_s.pdf?r=1
[2] Green Builder® 2011 Readers’ Choice Brand Study shared in Feb. 2012 Green Builder Magazine
[3]  http://insulation.owenscorning.com/professionals/insulation/products/r-21-fiberglas-insulation/
[4] According to 2010 clinical trial conducted in Toronto, Canada by Ducker Worldwide on behalf of Owens Corning Insulating Systems, LLC
[5] Documentation I01-4 Landscape Narrative typically used as supplemental information.
[6] http://www.c2ccertified.org/products/mhcertificate/unfaced-ecotouch-products-owens-corning-sales-llc
[7] http://www.owenscorning.com/NetworkShare/Shared/10019373-EcoTouch-Fiberglas-Insulation-Guide-Spec.pdf
[8] http://www.c2ccertified.org/products/mhcertificate/unfaced-ecotouch-products-owens-corning-sales-llc
[9] http://living-future.org/unfaced-ecotouch%C2%AE-insulation
[10] Documentation I15-1 Human Scale Narrative is typically used as supplemental information.
[11] http://insulation.owenscorning.com/professionals/insulation/products/r-21-fiberglas-insulation/ According to 2010 clinical trial conducted in Toronto, Canada by Ducker Worldwide on behalf of Owens Corning Insulating Systems, LLC 

Doors and hardware typically make up 2% of an overall building project. What may seem like a small portion of a project is actually a huge consideration for designers. ASSA ABLOY is a global leader in door opening solutions, and they are working to realize the potential of sustainable hardware.

ASSA ABLOY is making their products a vital component of the green marketplace. The company’s Director of Sustainable Building Solutions, Amy Vigneux, dared to make her company one of the first to participate in the Living Product Challenge, the most advanced measure of sustainability for the creation of all products. The Living Product Challenge is a certification framework that touches on all aspects of a product’s lifecycle.

ASSA ABLOY began to evaluate their manufacturing strategies by joining Living Product 50 (LP50), a collaborative group of manufacturers who are working together to bring transparency, green chemistry and supply chain innovation to their companies.

The LP50 cohort encouraged Amy and her team to research the embodied energy of their products, which gave her team a new lens with which to approach product development. With the help of the LP50, Amy worked to educate internal staff and end-users about the importance of conscious product procurement.

Precisely what goes into ASSA ABLOY’s conscious products? Amy explains that her team has included ILFI’s Red List into their own internal ‘red list’ so they can continue to phase out harmful chemicals in their products and processes.

By utilizing this process and considering all phases of a product’s life, ASSA ABLOY is able to move forward with Living Product Challenge certification with their EcoFlex Electrified Mortise Lock. This lock previously used a solenoid motor, which meant it was pulling power continuously. However, the new design has a step driven motor. Acting like a hybrid car, it pulls enough power from the grid to charge the lock and then waits in low energy standby mode until a user presents an access card. It’s manufactured by sister companies Sargent in New Haven, Connecticut and Corbin Russwin in Berlin, Connecticut.

Corbin Electrified Mortise ML2000

Sargent Mortise 8200 Electrified

With this product, ASSA ABLOY is proving locks, which can be so often overlooked, have a rightful place in the creation of high performance, healthy buildings. For Amy and her team, having it become certified as a Living Product is so important because it will go in Living Buildings with living people. And for that reason, creating products that provide longevity for those people, their children and their grandchildren is of utmost importance.

Can we grow rather than manufacture materials? Why does a labor union chief care about green and regenerative manufacturing? How are 3D printing and the circular economy revolutionizing our currently industrial economy? These questions and other provocative topics are on the table at the second annual Living Product Expo, hosted by the International Living Future Institute September 13-15, 2016, in the heart of America’s steel belt, Pittsburgh. For more information, or to register, visit the website.

“In our second year, we’re ready to explore the outer edges of product manufacturing with a goal to both inspire and enable corporations to create products that function as elegantly as anything found in the natural world,” said James Connelly, Director of the Living Product Challenge for the Institute. “The pioneering companies at the Expo are writing a new chapter in industrial design and challenging the status quo when it comes to how products are designed, sourced and manufactured. We’ll award the first full Living Product certifications at the conference, recognizing both redesigned, regenerative products as well as new, bio-based products that perform on par with their petroleum-based, toxic counterparts.”

The Living Product Expo will feature keynote speakers including:

Living Future Institute Founder Jason McLennan and Leo Gerard, International President of United Steelworkers, who will be in conversation with Khari Mosely, Pennsylvania Regional Programs Manager for the Blue Green Alliance. The three will reflect on how Jason and Leo’s shared experience of growing up in Sudbury, an area in Canada ravaged by industry, shaped both their world views and their shared commitment to challenging the old paradigms while at the same time trying to preserve and rejuvenate American ingenuity.

Other topics and speakers will bring new thinking and innovation into focus, including:

• Better Future Factory, a sustainable innovation and engineering studio that uses 3D printing and social entrepreneurship to turn waste streams into innovative solutions.
• The “body burden” of toxicity that is generated by healthcare systems – and how Healthcare without Harm is rethinking hospitals and their unintentional negative impacts.
• A social venture created by Ugandan refugee Chris Ategeka that is helping rural communities get better access to healthcare through mobile facilities.
• A new framework for business that favors collaboration over competition and empowerment over entitlement.
• A conversation about our ability to mimic nature’s design principles to rethink our traditional take-make-waste linear manufacturing, and move towards a circular economy.
• How grown and bio-based materials perform in the built environment.

About the Living Product Challenge

The Living Product Challenge re-imagines the design and construction of products to function as elegantly and efficiently as anything found in the natural world. The creation of this program kicked off a groundbreaking new event that brought together leading minds in the product industry to inspire a revolution in the way materials are designed, manufactured and delivered: the Living Product Expo.At the first event in 2015 sustainability directors from the world’s leading design firms, prominent manufacturers and sustainability consultants learned about and shared game-changing innovations in product design.

This second annual event moves from inspiration to action. The Expo is an opportunity for participants to share and discover disruptive new ideas and technologies that are reshaping the materials landscape, accelerating the pace of innovation and making Living Products possible today. Join us, and together we will craft the future of materials.

Bureo Co-Founder, Ben Kneppers brings unmatched passion for the environment and skateboarding to the Bureo efforts. He’ll be joining us as at the Living Product Expo to share insight on life cycle assessment and corporate environmental and social responsibility. Register today. 

Bureo is currently working with the International Living Future Institute to achieve Living Product Challenge certification for their recycled fishnet plastic sourced through their innovative program, Net+Positiva.

Bureo founded Net+Positiva in 2013 to create a positive solution to the growing issue of ocean plastic pollution. Globally, 10% of the oceans’ plastic waste is discarded fishing gear, which is also identified as the most harmful form of marine plastic pollution. Through Net+Positiva, Bureo partners directly with coastal communities across Chile to provide the equipment and training to collect back discarded fishing nets which Bureo is then able to recycle into a raw material for use in inspiring recycled and recyclable products, such as skateboards and sunglasses. Through the funds generated from the sale of these products, Bureo is able to continue the expansion of Net+Positiva while funding additional projects in coastal areas most affected by these forms of waste.  

In addition to making Net+Positiva a national program in Chile, the Bureo team is working toward a whole life cycle solution for the plastic material being produced. Bureo’s intention is to go beyond creating just another recycled plastic, but instead is striving to create a product that has a proven net positive impact on the environment and people.

This is where Living Product Challenge (LPC) certification comes in. ILFI is working with companies that are looking to push the boundaries of product sustainability and help shape the future of manufacturing. Identified as one of the most challenging sustainable product certifications available, pilot LPC certification requires that the product undergo an assessment to demonstrate that the product produces a net positive impact. Products that achieve this level of performance can claim to be the greenest and most socially responsible, and will serve as models for future companies that pursue certification.

The Living Product Challenge is a holistic standard, pulling together the most progressive thinking from consumer and industrial product design, manufacturing and policy.

It challenges us to ask: What if every single act of design and manufacturing made the world a better place?

What if every intervention:
• resulted in greater biodiversity;
• increased soil health;
• created additional outlets for beauty and personal expression;
• promoted a deeper understanding of climate, culture, and place;
• realigned  transportation systems;
• created a profound sense of what it means to be a citizen of a planet where resources and opportunities are equitable?

Meeting each of these criteria is surely a tall order.

Bureo is now putting their innovative plastic to the test by seeking the LPC certification. If achieved, their material will likely become the first plastic to generate a certified net positive impact on the environment and people.

Results from Bureo’s LPC certification process are scheduled to be released at the Living Product Expo, which will be taking place in Pittsburgh September 13-15.

To learn more about the LPC certification, read the standard here.
To learn more about Bureo’s products, visit their website.

Keeping plants in your home has been said to reduce stress and create a healthier living environment. However, the associated care with house plants is often a barrier for people.

In California, a group of students recognized the importance of having bits of nature in the home and submitted a winning solution to the student Living Product Prize competition.

Aquacity is a biomimicry-inspired product that combines the structural integrity of a honeycomb, the luminescence and water sensitivity of the Lobed Comb Jellyfish, the habitat of a Suriname sea toad, and the earth’s water cycles.

The product concept is a modular, vertical hydroponic plant system that can adapt to any surface. The adaptability allows for decentralized plant cultivation and the ability to easily create an indoor garden. Entrants of the Student Living Product Prize were tasked consider how their product, the manufacturing process, and their business model could align with the Living Product Challenge (LPC) framework, and also use biomimicry principles.

Aquacity is designed to be manufactured using simple, highly-recyclable and recycled materials like high-density polyethylene using renewable energy. No soil is required, and the team estimates the system would use 90% less water than traditional gardening methods. The sound of flowing water helps to further connect users to natural cycles, and changing LED light colors alert users to changing nutrient levels in the water.

The winning team, a team of students from California State University, will receive $1,500 and professional coaching to help put their ideas into action from ILFI in recognition of their achievement. Contestants in the Open Category are still competing for a $10,000 Living Product Prize, which will be announced at the Living Product Expo, September 13-15 in Pittsburgh. Learn more about the Living Product Expo here.

The Living Product Prize is just one piece of a growing partnership with the Biomimicry Institute. Alignment between the vision and principles of these two organizations made the Living Product Prize a natural fit within the Global Design Challenge. 

Cara Rude is the Director of Interior Design at McCool Carlson Green in Alaska. She is passionate about creating spaces that are conducive to healthy living. She attended the Living Product Expo is Pittsburgh last fall, and is now sharing why she’ll be joining us again this September.

I couldn’t wait to attend the first-ever Living Product Expo. The Expo was a place to create partnerships with manufacturers, designers, and producers who are passionate about creating regenerative products. I wanted to be part of this material revolution.

A big part of the Living Product Expo is the trade show portion, which is a great opportunity to get acquainted with new materials and vendors. At McCool Carlson Green, we are committed to Red-list-free materials specification. The Expo was a helpful resource to find new products. One of my favorite vendors from last year was Thermacork. The company produces 100% natural insulation that meets the R-values needs in Alaska, and can be used for roofing, exterior walls, partitions, flooring and ceilings.

Thermacork , expanded cork insulation, is made without added chemicals and is a completely renewable resource.

The Expo also introduced me to Purebond, a soy-based adhesive hardwood plywood. We now plan to use Purebond in our projects because the company provides products that celebrate Pacific Northwest woods without added formaldehydes.

I also discovered a high-performance biomaterial created from mushrooms and agricultural waste! Ecovative materials are used for packaging, insulation, structural substrate and even surfboards. The best part is that all of Ecovative’s ingredients are renewable and non-toxic.

Ecovative Design’s Foam Mushroom Packaging is natural, protective packaging that serves as a premium alternative to fabricated foam packaging.

This year at the Expo, I know that I’ll find more great products that are propelling the building industry toward a healthier place. The companies that participate in the Expo are successful because they are cross-disciplinary and willing to collaborate. Many of the most useful conversations that I had last year were with permaculture Supply Chain Specialists, chemists, and representatives from a cosmetic company. Join me at the Living Product Expo to work together to expand the ever-growing spread of healthy materials.

To meet Cara Rude and partake in the Living Product Expo experience, join us September 13-15 in Pittsburgh. Register here.

Carol Sanford is the founder of the Regenerative Business School and has been teaching sustainable business for over four decades. She’ll be joining us at the Living Product Expo as a keynote and sharing insight on creating powerful businesses and significant change. 

The sustainability movement, in the last few years, has figured out that “doing less harm” is insufficient. It is based on fixed ideas to which we implicitly agree to adhere. We become attached to their ‘rightness’ and do as much as possible to adhere to them and correct anything off course – e.g. fair trade may not make a village work better, it is just less bad. I call this approach “arresting disorder,” which translates to paying a lot of attention to slowing down destructive actions.

At every conference I attend and in most articles I’m reading now, there is a move to the idea of doing good rather than simply causing less harm. This is not even close to the required aspiration. Doing good is filled with ego, human-centered ideas and lots of ideological conflict, none of which are likely to focus us on the nodal changes needed to produce genuine benefits for communities and ecosystems. I have found that I can move people to care, even people who are not working on sustainability, by starting in a different place, one that works from a living-systems view of change.

The aspiration that can make a real difference is connection to the primal meaning of the idea of regeneration, but not as an alternative to renewal, restoration or rejuvenation. Regeneration is rooted in the science of life. When a starfish regenerates an arm, it initiates that from its own DNA, the code that patterns it. This isn’t restoration or reattachment of the arm that fell off. It’s not renewal, a simple extension of life, and it’s not rejuvenation. It’s regrowth, created anew from the core of the starfish’s being.

To understand regeneration, it is critical to connect with the truth that each starfish and each of its arms is unique. For the work of regenerating a lost arm there are no best practices, no programs, no standard measures. Only the particular DNA of this unique starfish has a say in its regrowth. And although in DNA there may be mutations from time, they always occur within the context of the unique entities who embody them.

So what does this have to do with getting beyond aspiration to do less harm or even to do positive good? How does it affect our living world on a larger scale than a starfish? My work for four decades — to educate and to reveal the DNA or essence codes of businesses, lifesheds, raw materials, customer buyer classes, children — has revealed to me how little we humans engage in this level of understanding about life. We have even less awareness of the critical importance of engaging with all forms of life only from their essences. We tend to categorize and lump living beings together, rather than search for and discover their uniqueness. We do not take the time to see the essence codes that make distinctive beings singular.

If you have children — or, for that matter, if you remember having been a child — it might be easier to grasp this idea of essence code or DNA or the singularity of each being from the point of view of parenting. A few years ago, when I asked my friend Stephanie Ryan, a senior associate with B Lab, to tell me what it was like having a 6-year-old boy, she first spoke of frogs, dirt, rebellion and all things characteristic of boys in particular at this age. This is the way we think when we make a grouping, like a demographic or gender. But when I asked her, “Who is Conner becoming?” she lit up. She described him as a detective searching out and understanding the lives of swamp critters, a protector of life in all forms on the inlet where they lived, who was heartbroken when any animal was harmed — a little boy who, when he was making this connection, would sometimes forget to eat.

Conner’s essence is unique to him. You can see it only by watching him or imagining him in your mind, at work engaging with the life in his unique place in the world. In terms of their levels of engagement, caring and innovation, the difference between the essence of Connor and the demographic of a 6-year-old boy is huge.

Let me do the same comparison with a watershed. Traditional watershed management, like lumping boys into demographic groups, makes them all the same, reducing them to commodities. Best practices arising from the commodity view spread across the nation, disconnecting us from the crests and valleys that we live in and travel through.

I worked with the community of Paonia, Colorado, at a time when there was enormous suffering as the result of this generalizing of life. All of the conversation about the local watershed was about its parts — water, timber, biota. When we engaged with Regenesis Group to discover the watershed’s Story of Place, its singularity and the unique ways in which it worked, the situation changed. The revelations that Paonia was a Learning Valley (even in businesses from mining, to solar courses, to 5 alternative approaches to scheduling this small Valley), that pow-wows shared ways of working, evoked tremendous caring. Everyone in the town remembered why they lived there or returned there. Ranchers and fruit tree growers were there for the same reason. Paonians could see this story going back even hundreds of years, to the original Native Peoples.

Paonia’s Story of Place fostered the connection of individuals from different domains to the unique life of their watershed and brought them together to regenerate the land, the community and, most importantly for them, the educational system. People stopped talking about all of the parts and the sustainability programs for each of them. They began to resonate with what was real — what they called “sacred.” The vitality and viability of this unique lifeshed, where living beings dwelled and nurtured one another, was understood and venerated within all political parties, all family heritages and all value systems.

Without this level of caring and deep connection, watershed management is only about policy changes and enforcement, and most often also litigation. It is only an abstraction, even to those with the highest intentions.

To see DNA – the essence and singularity of all living entities – you have to be connected to the unique life in which you are searching for it, whether it’s a watershed (which then becomes a Lifeshed) or a particular raw material, or a customer or value-seeking node of customers (such as attachment parents). Demographics, research in demographics and data collection from nature cannot change things for the better. Only caring and connection at an intuitive level, based on understanding of essence, can make truly regenerative contributions to the world.

The work of regenerating life requires us to continually regenerate the images of the boy or the watershed in our minds, in order to keep them alive. Otherwise, we see a demographic rather than a child, or a valley only as the place where we get our water. We see a business only as an entity that sells products and services, a raw material as something to bend with our will into a value-added product. Then we take down the mountain to extract the mineral because we don’t see its life and life force or the lives of its valleys and streams.

The mind that gave us the problems we have now is one that segments, categorizes and standardizes life. The new mind, the mind capable of regenerating what has been diminished, has learned to see essence. It understands that singularity, becoming and the principles of life guide work, not boxes of types and categories of things that we can count. This mind wishes to be present with real lives rather than concern itself with standards, just as, when we are the best parents we can be, we know our children as the individuals they are rather than as reflections of genders and demographics. The new mind has moved from counting to caring, from doing good to supporting each living entity it encounters to manifest its essence and to regenerate the essence in all that issues from it.

To learn more from Carol Sanford, join us at the Living Product Expo in Pittsburgh on September 13-15. You can also read more from Carol on her website. This piece was originally published by Sustainable Brands on July 15, 2014.