Our Story

2017 Highlights

Operations Sustainability

• Sustained progress against our 2020 environmental footprint reduction goals. From our 2010 baseline year, we have now exceeded our goals for primary energy (-26%), water (-41%), and fine particulate (-25%). We are on track to meet our goals for greenhouse gas (-48% to date) and toxic air emissions (-61% to date). However, we continue to be challenged by our waste-to-landfill goal (-4% to date).
• Purchased over 1.1 million megawatt hours of renewable energy, in the first full year of operation of the new wind capacity enabled by our power purchase agreements – positively impacting our goals for primary energy, greenhouse gas, and product sustainability.


Product And Supply Chain Sustainability

• Manufactured the world’s first products certified as made with 100% wind-powered electricity and reduced embodied carbon: EcoTouch® insulation, Thermafiber® RainBarrier® continuous insulation, and unbonded loosefill insulation.
• Introduced the first formaldehyde-free mineral wool insulation in North America, Formaldehyde-free Thermafiber® SAFB™ (Sound Attenuation Fire Blankets).
• Earned the world’s first and only asthma & allergy friendly® certification for insulation products — Pure Safety™ high performance insulation.
• Earned the first insulation SAFETY Act Designation through the Department of Homeland Security for several Thermafiber® fire barrier solutions — qualified as anti-terrorism technologies, providing a safety and liability benefit to our customers, building owners, architects, and contractors.
• Acquired Pittsburgh Corning, the leading producer of FOAMGLAS® cellular glass insulation systems, expanding our portfolio with this high-performance insulation offering unique sustainability attributes, water and fire resistance, high compressive strength, and durable thermal performance.
• Achieved our highest ever recycled glass use and recycled glass content in our insulation products, recycling over 1.4 billion pounds.

Energy Efficiency And Durable Material Solutions At Scale

• Hosted our second Builder Summit, taught by internal and external world-class experts and attended by 20 select builders, focused on expanding skills and capabilities to improve the builders’ businesses through building highly energy-efficient, durable, and comfortable homes.
• Produced a simple video, detailing how products can be certified as made with 100% wind-powered electricity and reduced embodied carbon, to help others adopt this market-pull climate strategy.
• Acquired Aslan FRP™, producer of composite rebar used to reinforce concrete in new and restorative infrastructure. This acquisition will help us accelerate market transformation by providing a compelling alternative to steel reinforcements in concrete structures. Sustainability advantages include corrosion resistance, lighter weight, and service life of 100 years.

Safety, Health, Employee Engagement, And Community Vitality

• Advanced our goal of creating an injury-free workplace. Our recordable incident rate for the year was 0.50, a slight improvement over 2016. This is particularly meaningful given the integration of the FOAMGLAS® business, where we moved rapidly to implement more rigorous safety standards to keep our new employees safe. In 2017, there were two work-related fatalities at company manufacturing locations — the first in over a decade. Lessons learned are being used to develop and implement actions to eliminate all injuries.
• Expanded our Healthy Living wellness initiative for all global employees and their families, operationalizing the opportunity for safer, healthier, and more productive lives.
• Increased employee engagement in our annual survey to 87%, up from 44% in 2012. We believe participation is being driven by transparency in communication of results and responsive management actions.
• Engaged in company-sponsored volunteerism, local product donation, or financial support and fundraising for local charities at 82% of our facilities.
• Completed 28 home builds or renovations in the United States, Canada, and China in partnership with Habitat for Humanity and through employee volunteerism.
• Provided volunteer and financial support for an orphanage in Mexico City, benefiting 55 girls ages 3 to 13. Funding addressed immediate needs of the orphanage building and covered the cost of a pediatrician, psychologist, and nutritionist.

Going Forward, Our Priorities Include:

• Living Safely – achieve zero injuries, at work and at home, in concert with rapid safety onboarding of new employees through acquisitions and new facilities built to support organic growth.
• Healthy Living – realize the opportunity for safe, healthy, and productive lives for our employees and their families, free of lifestyle-induced disease.
• Community Vitality – attain 100% formal community engagement, partnering within our local communities to advance their priorities.
• Operations Sustainability – establish and align on our 2030 sustainability goals – informed by science. Eliminate waste to landfill through source reduction, repurposing, and recycling, with an R&D focus on glass fiber.
• Product Sustainability – expand partnerships with market influencers to elevate the demand for increasingly sustainable products, generating pull for further, faster, and greater progress (e.g., wind-made, reduced embodied carbon products).
• Supply Chain Sustainability – elevate the expectations we place on our highest-impact suppliers to better understand, track, and more rapidly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the raw materials we purchase.
• Innovation and Collaboration – increase our positive impact by growing our company faster than our markets with products that make the world a better place.