The document discusses the sustainability of natural stone as a building material. It notes that natural stone has proven durable over thousands of years yet still needs to demonstrate its sustainability credentials against modern manufactured stone products. The Natural Stone Council has developed a new certification standard called NSC 373 to evaluate the sustainable practices of quarries and fabricators. This standard is similar to other industry certifications like LEED and aims to clearly demonstrate the environmental benefits of natural stone.

1. T
he sustainability
movement is seemingly end-
less – as it should be.Sus-
tainable living is part of a journey.All
too often,the completion of a building
or initiative is seen as a destination.
The achievement of a LEED Certifica-
tion or other designation should not
be the coronation of your efforts.
Instead,this is just one more step on your path
to a more sustainable,environmentally conscious future.
American biologist Barry Commoner was
decades ahead of the sustainability movement when
he published “The Closing Circle” (1971), which
included his “Four Laws of Ecology.”Within these
profound principles he wrote:“Nature knows best.
Humankind has fashioned technology to improve
upon nature, but such change in a natural system is
likely to be detrimental to that system.”
Nature
knows
best
Mountain Valley Quartzitic Sandstone. Photo courtesy of Delta Stone Products.
How the
use of natural
stone can
help you achieve your
sustainability goals.
By Michael Schumacher
140 COMMERCIAL CONSTRUCTION & RENOVATION — SEPTEMBER : OCTOBER 2016

2. NATURE
KNOWS BEST
We have made great strides to improve our quality of life along with the state of our
environment. In our pursuit of a more sustainable future, we have forgotten about some of
the most fundamental and time-proven materials. As one of civilization’s primary building
products, natural stone has proven its sustainable attributes for thousands of years. We see
evidence of its long-term durability and performance in structures around the world.
It would be easy to think that a natural product like stone would be considered a sustain-
able building product. In today’s market, this time-proven staple of building and construction has
to fight for its own voice to be heard. One of the largest forces behind natural stone’s challenge
of market share is the increasing use of the word “stone” to market man-made, engineered
products that actually are not stone, but products that imitate natural stone.
Because of their manufacturing process and contents, these products have a substantially
higher Embodied Energy Coefficient.This speaks to the sum of all the energy that goes into the
manufacture of a product. Comparative to other building materials commonly used today, nat-
ural stone has one of the lowest Embodied Energy Coefficients.This is an often overlooked, yet
extremely important attribute of any product
that is to be considered sustainable.
One of the biggest challenges facing
the specifying community and their clients
today is selecting products and methods
that truly align with green/sustainable
practices. From a product standpoint, nearly
every manufacturer has its own collection
of pediments on which it builds its green
marketing campaigns.
Since the appeal is in how you tell your
story, the most credence is given to those
companies and products that have gone
through a third-party verification process.
As part of the natural stone indus-
try’s commitment to the green building
movement, the Natural Stone Council
(NSC), a collaboration of stone business-
es and trade associations, has worked
closely with the National Center for Sus-
tainability Standards, NSF International,
to develop a new standard known as
ANSI/NSC 373: Sustainable Production of
Natural Dimension Stone and NSC Chain
of Custody Standard.
The completed standard operates on a
very similar platform to the LEEDCertifica-
tion process, the Green Label (carpets and
adhesives), and Forest Stewardship Council
(wood products). NSC 373 offers certifi-
cations for quarriers as well as fabricators
within this standard. This helps to establish
Cradle to Cradle reporting, which generates
a Life Cycle Assessment.
In addition, the standard also evaluates
Cradle to Gate, which speaks to a product’s
social, economic and environmental impact
as it moves from quarry to the project site.
Certifications are based upon a quarrier and/
or fabricator’s performance and metrics for
improvement in the following categories:
• Water
• Transportation and chain of custody
• Site management
• Land reclamation
• Corporate governance
• Energy
• Management of excess process
material and waste
• Safer chemical and
materials management
• Human health and safety
• Innovation
Kenoran Sage and Cold Spring
Black granite paving; Baltic Brown
granite cladding. Photo courtesy
of Elizabeth Carrie Photography.
Agate, Carnelian, and Mesabi Black granite
paving. Carnelian granite benches. Photo
courtesy of Steve Maylone Photography.
142 COMMERCIAL CONSTRUCTION & RENOVATION — SEPTEMBER : OCTOBER 2016

3. NATURE
KNOWS BEST
Michel Schumacher has completed degrees in business and construction, and is a past recipient of the
MIA Natural Stone Scholarship Award. In addition to serving as marketing and sales specialist for Michels Corp.,
he also is a crew leadership instructor for the Associated Builders & Contractors of Wisconsin.
Similar to the LEED rating system, there
is a combination of required and optional
credits. An organization’s pursuit of elective,
enhanced or innovation performance credits
are what determine their level of certification
– Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum.
The new certification tracts that are
available in LEED v4 speak to the U.S. Green
Building Council’s commitment to the use of
sustainable practices in the design com-
munity. Two primary certification programs
related to the commercial market are LEED
Building Design and Construction (BD+C)
and LEED Interior Design and Construction.
These certifications concentrate specifically
on new construction or major renovations
of schools, retail, hospitality, data centers,
warehouses and distribution centers, and healthcare facilities.
LEED Operations and Maintenance (O+M) focuses on enhanc-
ing the performance of existing buildings. It can take up to 80 years
to make up for the environmental impact of raising a structure and
building a new one. Many of today’s efficiencies can be achieved
through the incorporation of new technology and the use of more
sustainable materials.
The majority of the architectural community has been using
LEED v4 as the basis of their designs. They will be looking to
use products that align with the new prerequisites and credits.
The addition of the NSC 373 certification process works to affirm
natural stone’s place within the sustainable
building market.
In an effort to help the specifying
community gain a better understanding of
natural stone’s role in today’s sustainable
building market, MIA+BSI has developed
an online course explaining NSC 373. This
session has been recognized by the AIA,
LACES, IDCEC (ASID, IIDA, and IDC) for
continuing education credit. Knowledge
obtained from the course can be self-re-
ported to the GBCI and LFA to obtain LEED
credential maintenance credits.
MIA+BSI provide resources for the
specifying communities on the use and in-
stallation of natural stone. Visit the Use Nat-
ural Stone website (www.usenaturalstone.
com) and add the NSC 373 course to your ongoing education efforts
(www.naturalstoneinstitute.org/sustainabilityceu).
The journey to a better, healthier and more sustainable future
can be confusing. The natural stone industry has paved the way to a
greater understanding of how everyone can work together to achieve
our common goal of a better tomorrow. Be cautious of “Green Wash-
ing” in the marketplace, and look closely at what you are selecting.
In considering all the products on the market, one cannot help
but consider the true durability, versatility and sheer brilliance that is
found within natural stone.
Dr. Commoner was right, "Nature really does know best." CCR
The natural
stone industry
has paved the
way to a greater
understanding
of how everyone
can work together
to achieve our
common goal of a
better tomorrow.
Mountain Valley Quartzitic Sandstone. Photo courtesy of Delta Stone Products.
144 COMMERCIAL CONSTRUCTION & RENOVATION — SEPTEMBER : OCTOBER 2016