Breathing Easy

The Greenguard Environmental Institute named Owens Corning Masonry Products the first manufactured stone veneer fabricator to qualify as Greenguard Indoor

The Greenguard Environmental Institute named Owens Corning Masonry Products the first manufactured stone veneer fabricator to qualify as Greenguard Indoor Air Quality Certified, meeting also the more stringent Greenguard Children & Schools product emission standards. The certifications apply to the company’s entire lines of Cultured Stone and ProStone veneer products. Showcasing the manufacturer’s commitment to sustainability, they join a variety of Owens Corning Greenguard-certified insulation offerings, including faced and unfaced Pink fiberglass insulation batts and rolls, as well as Foamular extruded polystyrene insulation.

A product-certification program, Greenguard Indoor Air Quality Certified fosters low-emitting interior building materials, furnishings, and finish systems. Greenguard Children & Schools is a comparable product-certification program specifically targeting educational [daycare and K-12] environments. To ensure improved indoor air quality, all Greenguard products have been tested for their chemical emissions performance and can be found in the Greenguard Product Guide at www.greenguard.org.

Acknowledgement by the Greenguard Environmental Institute provides customers third-party validation that our products continue to be on the cutting edge of green technology and meet the strictest guidelines for indoor air quality, affirms Owens Corning Masonry Products President Chuck Stein. Continued growth in the green market Û as much as 30 percent despite the slump in the overall housing market Û has created opportunities for builders and contractors to set themselves apart. We’re helping our customers meet this demand in a way that doesn’t compromise the world we leave to the future.

Owens Corning’s corporate commitment to sustainability is further demonstrated by recent advances in design and fabrication processes applied to the Cultured Stone and ProStone brands. Greening of company operations and output is evident primarily in three areas:

  • Reclaimed content Û Incorporation of up to 10 percent fly ash (a by-product of the coal-fired energy industry) and up to 10 percent reground scrap concrete reduced landfill waste by 56 percent per ton of product produced during 2007.
  • Recycled water Û Implementation of a closed-loop system allowing water reuse during operations lowered water consumption in North America from 2006-2007 by 42 percent per ton of product produced.
  • Durability Û a core green value Û is a feature of both Cultured Stone and ProStone veneers, which offer 50-plus years of service, Owens Corning officials note. Each line meets or exceeds the industry’s most stringent codes, they add, including AC-51 as represented by ICC-Evaluation Service approval (ESR-1364). Moreover, painting, coating or sealing is not required.

Also providing confirmation of its commitment to business operations that achieve the balanced outcomes of economic growth, environmental stewardship and social progress, Owens Corning released a 2007 Sustainability Report, which highlights the company’s current progress against 2012 performance goals. Those sustainability goals encompass three strategic initiatives: (1) greening operations, i.e., achieving specific environmental footprint reductions; (2) greening products, i.e., continuously improving their life-cycle impact; and, (3) accelerating energy-efficiency improvements in the built environment.

In the report, Owens Corning states that 2012 targets have been met for minimizing particulate-matter and nitrogen-oxide emissions, as well as water consumption, while progress is on track for energy and waste-to-landfill reductions. Further improvements throughout the company’s operations are needed to meet the goals for reducing volatile organic compounds and greenhouse gases.

Sustainability is a journey of continuous improvement, observes Owens Corning Chief Sustainability Officer Frank O’Brien-Bernini. While pleased with our progress, we have much more to accomplish. This report accurately reflects our achievements, while also showing ourselves and the outside world where we can do better.

Owens Corning has printed a limited number of report copies, using recycled paper, soy-based ink, and nonpolluting wind-generated energy. The report is available online at www.owenscorning.com/sustainability.

Sustainability is a core strategy at Owens Corning, asserts chairman and CEO Mike Thaman. This approach to business energizes our people, creates growth opportunities for our customers, and drives value for our shareholders.


Owens Corning outlines environmental improvements at Cultured Stone and ProStone operations and other facilities in the report, available by download at www.owenscorning/sustainability.

PROSTONE, CULTURED STONE LINES FEATURE EXPANDED OFFERINGS

Responding to feedback from builders and masons while incorporating global influences, Owens Corning announces new options for its ProStone and Cultured Stone lines. According to Owens Corning Masonry Products President Chuck Stein, These enhancements are part of our commitment to bring product innovations that help our customers succeed regardless of market conditions.

PROSTONE

Less than a year after the ProStone launch, several enhancements to the company’s newest line of manufactured stone veneer were introduced. ProStone offerings now will include three new colors Û Desert Shadows, Charcoal Mist and Stone Red. Additionally, a new texture, marketed as Easy Fit Savannah Ledge, comprises a component stone whose texture is designed to help builders readily achieve the look of tight-fitting ledgestones, company representatives note.

Constructed as a lighter weight veneer with redesigned, weather-resistant packaging for fast and easy handling, company officials assert, ProStone veneers offer excellent efficiency on the job site, as verified by masons installing the new brand. Chuck Gillihan of New Creation Masonry in Las Vegas reports, ProStone veneers handle well on the jobsite and lay up as well as any stone out there for less money. Û www.ProStoneVeneer.com or 800/Get-Pink

CULTURED STONE

Enhancements to the Cultured Stone product line include Del Mare Ledgestone, Ancient Villa Ledgestone, and Aged Tumbled textures, expanding the brand’s offering to 25-plus distinct textures. According to product developers, the new offerings were inspired by building stones of the Mediterranean and Pacific Islands, Italian countryside, and Midwest. Each is available in a set of custom colors not provided in any other Cultured Stone veneer texture:

  • Del Mare Ledgestone manufactured stone veneer, patterned after stones found along Mediterranean and Pacific Island coasts, comprises an intricate texture available in six new, rich colors Û Barossa, Burnt Ochre, Kapalua, Palermo, Patina and Sangria.
  • Ancient Villa Ledgestone units capture the natural hues of Tuscan villas, vineyards and the Italian countryside, product developers affirm. The texture’s blend of regular and irregular stones, they add, provides rustic charm. It is offered in three new vivid colors Û Chianti, Siena and Toscana.
  • Aged Tumbled texture replicates natural stones that have been tumbled to achieve a weathered appearance. Featuring imperfect edges and rough surfaces, the classic rectangular- and square-shaped stones are available in new Copper, Frost and Harbor colors.

Del Mare Ledgestone and Ancient Villa Ledgestone veneers can be installed using standard, tight or wide mortar-joint treatments. Aged Tumbled manufactured stone can be placed in course or random patterns, complementing brick veneer. To further extend the range of design options and integrate these textures in virtually any application, coloring the mortar and bringing the grout to the surface of the stones are viable techniques.

As the Cultured Stone brand expands through Europe and here at home, these new textures and colors are a reflection of the international design influence our global business brings to the table, helping our customers continue to deliver the ÎwowÌ factor to their building projects, notes Masonry Products’ Chuck Stein. Û www.culturedstone.com or 800/255-1727