Meet the Honorees: Ashley Fahey, Sr. Manager, Global Product Sustainability, Kohler Co.

by | Jan 23, 2022

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The Environment+Energy Leader Honoree program is an annual list that recognizes the environment and energy “doers” who break trail in creating new solutions, programs, platforms, best practices and products to help their companies – or other companies – achieve greater success in commercial and industrial environment and energy management. Meet the Honorees… is an ongoing series that will feature one Honoree from 2022 each week. See the complete list of 2022 Honorees here.

Meet Ashley Fahey, senior manager of global product sustainability for Kohler Co. At Kohler, Ashley identifies opportunities to increase sustainability of the company’s kitchen and bathroom product portfolios globally. This includes understanding current product portfolios and product roadmaps, conducting research to understand consumer trends and sentiment, and developing a product sustainability strategy to guide future product development.

What do you see as the biggest environmental challenge organizations are facing?

Ashley Fahey: Hot water use is one of the biggest lifecycle GHG impacts for Kohler products in the kitchen and bathroom. Kohler offers a large number of WaterSense certified products which provide a great design and consumer experience, while also reducing the amount of water used. Collectively across all of the households globally that use our products, that can make a big impact.

What was a successful project or implementation you have worked on? Do you have any tips that would help colleagues at other companies who are contemplating similar projects? 

AF: Since I’m still new to Kohler, I’ll offer an example from my previous position as sustainability principal at The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. There, I worked on developing a corporate sustainability framework called Goodyear Better Future which our team introduced and implemented across various functions within the organization, ultimately resulting in dozens of new goals set and increased, and consistent internal and external communication around sustainability.

The two most important things that we did as part of that project were to conduct a materiality assessment first, in order to understand where our stakeholders felt we should be focusing our attention, and to work with internal functional leaders at all levels of the organization to implement the framework. This drove a high level of engagement and excitement, and empowered the organization to use the same language when talking about sustainability.

What trends do you expect to see in the market in the next few years? What challenges will the industry face and what technologies or organizational changes will overcome them.

AF: In terms of sustainability, I expect that the focus on climate impacts and circular economy will continue to grow. As more and more companies set net zero goals, I foresee a challenge in meeting those goals, since it will require a massive investment in renewable energy and carbon offset projects in order to meet the demand. I also see a challenge both in designing products with circularity in mind (design for durability, design for recyclability) as well as in putting in place the infrastructure needed to take back and effectively recycle products at end of life. There also needs to be adequate demand for recycled materials, so companies also need to consider incorporating more recycled raw materials into their products.

Tell us about a favorite hobby, passion or book you’ve read recently that has had an impact on you and your work.

AF: One of my favorite hobbies is hiking. I’m fortunate to live near a national park with lots of great hiking trails. Especially during warm months, I enjoy getting outside in the fresh air and connecting with nature. I’m also passionate about traveling — experiencing different places, cultures, and cuisines.

These two activities bring me closer to nature and closer to people and help build empathy that drives the work I do to help protect the environment and support human health and wellness.

Editor’s note: nominations are now open for this year’s E+E Honorees. Nominate a colleague — or yourself — for the 2022 E+E Honorees today.

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