Saint-Gobain Invests $32 Million to Improve Production, Sustainability at California Plant

(Credit: Saint-Gobain)

Saint-Gobain through its subsidiary CertainTeed is investing $32 million to upgrade equipment at its insulation plant in Chowchilla, California, which will expand the facility’s production capacity by 13% and significantly reduce its carbon footprint.

The upgrades are part of a $400 million expansion plan at four Saint-Gobain manufacturing sites in the United States. Those projects include a similar $30 million insulation plant project and a $100 million effort to expand the company’s gypsum production capacity, both in Georgia.

The California upgrades include adding a new oven and other equipment that will consume less natural gas and electricity. Saint-Gobain says the equipment will cut its carbon emissions by more than 4,000 metric tons per year at the facility.

The oven is used to melt recycled glass and sand into molten glass, which is eventually fiberized.

An oxygen generation unit was also installed as part of the project, which will use 30% less electricity than the equipment it replaces, the company says. Oxygen will be mixed with natural gas to heat the furnace.

The investments at Saint-Gobain facilities across the country are part of its Grow and Impact strategy, which is to increase its market presence and also reduce its environmental footprint. Part of that goal is to reduce carbon emissions linked to construction by 40% and for sold products to avoid 1,300 tons of carbon emissions throughout their lifespans.

In 2021, Saint-Gobain’s CertainTeed completed a $4.3 million water recycling project at its insulation plant in Kansas City, Kansas, that is expected to reduce the facility’s water consumption by 227 million gallons per year. Other company sustainability efforts include a 12-year power purchase agreement for 120 megawatts of renewable energy from a wind farm in McLean County, Illinois.

Saint-Gobain also has been a part of several recent multi-million-dollar settlements for PFOA chemical pollution at plants in Vermont and New York, which include efforts to mitigate the problems and upgrade the facilities there.

Saint-Gobain began to install the new equipment at the California facility in January and expects it to become operational later this month or in March. The company says it is the largest capital investment at the Chowchilla plant since it opened in 1978.