
Pennsylvania-based siding company Saint-Gobain reports that its manufacturing facility in Jackson, operated by the company’s Certain Teed subsidiary, has achieved a rapid 50 percent reduction in water consumption compared to 2019 levels.
The more than 9-million-gallon savings resulted from the installation last May of a smart water submetering system and upgraded production equipment.
The Jackson results are part of the company’s larger effort to implement its global Grow and Impact environmental sustainability goals. So far, the program has been able to reduce manufacturing emissions at three of its facilities — McPherson, Kan., Social Circle, Ga., and Williamsport, Md. — by 96 percent. The plants produce polymer shakes, vinyl trim, millwork, and vinyl siding.
With fully electrified processes and 100 percent of the electricity used backed by renewable energy credits, Saint-Gobain was able to take “a significant step in its mission to provide low carbon siding products to the U.S. market” and reduce its environmental footprint.
The current energy project by the company’s three existing power purchase agreements will provide enough renewable electricity to cover more than 70 percent of the electricity demand at all of Saint-Gobain’s industrial sites in North America when fully online by 2025.
With the production processes now powered by renewable energy at the initial three facilities, the business is working to eliminate remaining sources of emissions not directly related to production, such as natural gas for plant heating and propane for forklift trucks.
“As a leader in light and sustainable construction, we must focus on ensuring our manufacturing practices are as sustainable as possible, and our efforts toward achieving a near net-zero production process for Scopes one and two emissions in McPherson, Social Circle, and Williamsport are a giant step forward as we continue this work,” says Joe Bondi, vice president and general manager of CertainTeed Siding.
“These achievements are a shining example of how we can continue to provide quality products to our customers while committing to sustainable business practices.”’