Nadine Gudz of Interface presents a Manufacturers perspective on Sustainable Building Materials. Presented to the Toronto CSBA Course

1. SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS
Product and Company sustainability in
action
Nadine Gudz
Director, Sustainability Strategy
nadine.gudz@interface.com

2. OUTLINE
- Who is Interface?
- Life Cycle thinking, assessment, stewardship
in action
- Complex world of materials evaluation
- What’s next?

3. OUTLINE
- complex world of materials evaluation

5. Take Make Waste
THE INDUSTRIAL
REVOLUTION
Only 6% of material flow ends up in products
THE SUSTAINABILITY No
REVOLUTION Waste

6. SEVEN FRONTS OF MOUNT SUSTAINABILITY
1. Eliminate Waste
2. Benign Emissions
3. Renewable Energy
4. Closing the Loop
5. Resource-Efficient Transportation
6. Sensitivity Hookup
7. Redesign Commerce

7. $440 MILLION IN AVOIDED
WASTE COSTS, GLOBALLY

8. 2011 ECOMETRICS HIGHLIGHTS
47%
ENERGY USE per unit of production since 1996
RENEWABLE ENERGY31% of total energy use
64%
NON-RENEWABLE ENERGY USE per unit of production since 1996
GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS 34% from Baseline
RECYCLED MATERIALS 44% of total raw materials use
88%
WASTE TO LANDFILL per unit of production since 1996
84%
WATER USE per unit of production since 1996

9. BIO-INSPIRED
DESIGN

10. INSPIRED BY NATURAL SYSTEMS
We created i2 using
biomimicry – an approach that
seeks sustainable design
solutions based on life’s
principles.
Like leaves on a forest floor,
i2 tiles vary from one to the
other – yet they come
together to form beautiful
designs.

11. INSPIRED BY NATURAL SYSTEMS
Mergeable dye lots
- Less attic stock required
Tiles blend regardless of when they're
purchased or installed
Longer life on the floor
i2 non-directional
- Installs faster than roll carpet or
directional modular carpet
Creates less waste since scraps can
be reused along the edges
Original i2, non directional product – Entropy.
Total Recycled Content is 62-74%.
Innovation

12. MEASURING GLOBAL WARMING
IMPACT POTENTIAL
Greenhouse gas emissions Approx. 30 lbs of GHGs for
1 yd2 of carpet
Recycling
71%
End of
Life/
10% 9% 7% Use
Raw material Use &
extraction Manufacturing Product Maintenance
Transportation
3% Landfill

13. WHAT IS LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT?
A science-based methodology for
assessing the environmental
performance of a product over its full
life cycle
- standardized by
ISO 14040 series
- 3 main parts: 1) scope,
2) inventory, 3) impacts

14. LIFE CYCLE STEWARDSHIP

17. CLOSING THE LOOP:
RE-ENTRY 2.0 CARPET
RECLAMATION & RECYCLING

18. the Loop
Fiber is separated and broadloom backing is removed
to be further processed

19. 4

20. Loop - fiber
Face fiber is bailed and shipped to Universal Fibers

26. CONTROVERSIAL
MATERIALS

27. www.pharosproject.net (v2, 5/07/12)

29. EPD STANDS FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCT
DECLARATION
It is a statement of product ingredients and
potential environmental impacts during the life of
a product.

32. EPD IS BASED ON LIFECYLE DATA
EPD IS THIRD-PARTY VERIFIED
EPD MEETS ISO STANDARDS

33. EPD is not:
-A performance rater
-A sustainability claim
-A system Interface developed for its own purposes

35. TRANSPARENCY LEADERSHIP
INITIATIVE/STANDARD DEVELOPED BY INTERFACE STATUS
ENVIRONMENTAL ISO (14025 & 14040) 90% OF PRODUCTS
PRODUCT DECLARATION COVERED BY UL-
CERTIFIED EPDs (ALL
PRODUCTS BY END OF
2012)
PHAROS PROJECT HEALTHY BUILDING ALL PRODUCT DATA
NETWORK (HBN) (NORTH AMERICA) IN
DATABASE
HEALTH PRODUCT HBN & PILOT MANUFACTURER
DECLARATION BUILDINGGREEN.COM
DECLARE LIVING BUILDING IN DISCUSSIONS
CHALLENGE (ILBI)

36. LEED v. 4 - MATERIALS
DISCLOSURE & OPTIMIZATION

37. CALL TO ACTION
If you are a design professional, firm, or company
working in the Building Sector (architects,
designers, planners, interior designers, landscape
architects, builders, and/or developers, etc.),
Architecture 2030 encourages you to adopt the
2030 Challenge for Products and pledge to request
third party expert verified Life Cycle Assessment
(LCA) and, where possible, Environmental Product
Declaration (EPD), results from product
manufacturers and specify low-carbon building
products that meet the Challenge targets.

38. Architecture2030.org

39. SOME TAKE-AWAYS…
- Is a product really green if it’s made in a polluting
factory?
- “Sustainable” is not a specialized product line
- Radical transparency -> More complete picture ->
Smarter choices -> More sustainable buildings
- “Controversial materials” = good conversation
starters about ALL materials