Shaw publishes third sustainability report

Shaw Industries Group has released its third annual corporate sustainability report at www.shawgreenedge.com. The report covers Shaw’s investment in sustainability initiatives during the 2010 calendar year, with metrics and data for more than 40 performance indicators.

“Even though 2010 represented a continuation of the most difficult economic conditions our industry – and our world – has ever faced, we have consistently looked for innovations that are environmentally, socially and economically sustainable,” said Vance Bell, Shaw ceo.

“The report represents an increased level of disclosure from 2009 in areas that we recognize as critical to our various stakeholder groups, including product stewardship, product reclamation and recycling and social responsibility,” added Paul Murray, Shaw’s vp sustainability.

Shaw’s 2010 report uses the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3 guidelines for sustainability reporting at the B level. The company formally adopted the GRI framework for its 2009 report in order to offer stakeholders further assurance that the disclosures and metrics met globally recognized standards for corporate sustainability reporting.


GO Home in Belfast, Maine named LEED for Homes Project of the Year

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has named The GO Home, located in Belfast, Maine as the Project of the Year in the 2011 LEED for Homes Awards.

Built by GO Logic with a small footprint of 1,500 sq. ft., the three-bedroom LEED Platinum residence uses minimal energy and was built at construction costs comparable to a standard home. As a net zero and passive house, The GO Home was created to bring design and energy performance in line with affordability while slashing energy usage by 90 percent. The project will be replicated across a 36-home community in Maine.

“Healthy, high-performing residential projects don’t have to cost more, and that is evidenced in many of this year’s winning projects,” said Nate Kredich, vp residential market development, USGBC.

Other 2011 winners included: Power Haus, based in Sarasota, Fla., and built by Josh Wynne Construction; KB Home’s Primera Terra residential community in Playa Vista, Calif.; ActiveWest Builders’ Meadow Ranch development in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; the Juneberry Lane project developed by Clackamas Community Land Trust in Oregon City, Ore.; New Hope Housing of Houston; and Habitat for Humanity of Kent County, based in Grand Rapids, Mich.


UL Environment unveils white paper on EDPs

UL Environment has published a new white paper, “Transparency and the Role of Environmental Product Declarations,” designed to educate stakeholders on Environmental Product Declarations (EDPs) and help clarify the role of the EDP program operator.

The report covers topics including market demand for EPDs, the ISO 14025 compliant EPD creation process, importance of lifecycle analysis in EDP creation, why Product Category Rules (PCRs) are needed, what’s next for EDPs and more. The report can be downloaded at www.uluniversity.us/home.aspx by clicking on Thought Leadership, then scrolling to the Environment category.


CRI joins new organization: Product Management Alliance

The Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) is taking a key role in the recently formed Product Management Alliance (PMA), an inter-industry partnership designed to promote market-based solutions for extended producer responsibility. The alliance’s mission is to support voluntary market-based extended producer responsibility efforts and voluntary incentives for increased recovery and sustainable product and package design.

PMA will work with experts in the industry and government to ensure a consistent policy for recovery, take-back programs and other models. The PMA’s founding members represent the carpet, electronics, toy, paper, packaging and transportation materials, mattress, plastics, personal goods and pharmaceutical industries.

“Bringing together a coalition of varied industry associations and manufacturers under the Product Management Alliance is a critical first step in the development of a sound environmental policy for the lifecycle of products,” said Daniel Connelly, PMA exec. dir.

Sponsored by: MAPEI