The U.S. Green Building Council continues to drive the industry forward with integration of the Cradle to Cradle Certified Program into its LEED Version 4 rating system. Through its commitment to the program, Construction Specialties Inc., a manufacturer of high-performing commercial building products, is championing the building industry’s redefined commitment to material health.
“This is a major milestone for the industry. It speaks volumes that the USGBC recognizes the importance of continuously improving material health standards in LEED Version 4 by recognizing Cradle to Cradle Certified products,” says Howard Williams, vice president of Construction Specialties Inc., LEED AP ID+C. “We are pleased to be a front-runner in manufacturing Cradle to Cradle Certified products and hope the allowances LEED v4 makes for material ingredient reporting, through models like the Cradle to Cradle Certified Program, galvanize continued industry innovation.”
Nearly 20 years ago, Construction Specialties (C/S) began its environmental journey, when employees banded together to protect the local community from a proposed hazardous waste incinerator. This environmental reality initiated a larger discussion on the use of hazardous chemicals and inaugurated C/S’ quest to identify chemicals of concern and work toward eliminating them from its products. Since then, C/S has made big commitments to manufacturing sustainably and continuously improving its products for human and environmental health. Adopting the Cradle to Cradle Certified Products Standard, pursuing certification, and greening its business practices has provided not only environmental rewards but also economic growth.
With over 39 Cradle to Cradle certifications across five product groups and hundreds of options for product variations, C/S offers many LEED v4 compliant selections. The company’s product innovation does not end here. C/S is dedicated to continuous improvement in all five attributes of the C2C CertifiedCM program: material health, material reutilization, renewable energy, water stewardship, and social fairness.
C/S introduced the industry’s first on-product ingredient label in 2011. Much like a nutritional label on food products, this transparency label outlines what materials the product is made of, who produced it and where to find more information. C/S partnered with global architecture firm Perkins+Will to create this tool and accompanying website to make environmental and health disclosure easier for its customers and any manufacturer who chooses to adopt the template.
Last June, C/S launched the first commercial building products recycling locator to address recycling solutions and provide consumers the information and resources necessary to conveniently recycle and properly dispose of materials.