CertainTeed Cuts Energy, Water Use, Landfill Waste

Building products manufacturer CertainTeed has reduced energy consumption by 15 percent and water usage by 24 percent over the past four years.

The Valley Forge, Penn., company has also decreased the amount of waste going to landfills from its facilities by 33 percent.

During 2010 and 2011, approximately 6,000 CertainTeed employees received various types of sustainability training, which the company says drove the success in reducing environmental impacts. Additionally, more than 30 plants have achieved ISO 14001  certification, which aims to drive continuous improvement in regard to environmental performance.

The company has said that even “simple modifications” had a large impact on its environmental performance.

One of CertainTeed’s operational excellence initiatives is to involve employees in waste reduction teams. The company says that this approach was instrumental in finding new ideas for recycling cardboard, pallets and packaging, and was responsible for creating closed loop water reuse systems.

The reconfiguration of certain processes at three plants eliminated the need for pumping equipment and compressors, saving more than more than 1.3 million kWh a year, the company said.

In August 2010, a CertainTeed Gypsum plant in Kansas City, Kan., announced that it had reduced its water use by more than 35 percent over the course of the previous year.

The facility, which produces fiberglass insulation, made adjustments to spray systems so that they reused water, eliminating the need for city water.