(313c) Manufacturing Sustainable Products: Living Product Challenge and Beyond

Owens Corning is a leader in product transparency and sustainability. By understanding the competitive landscape, Owens Corning is adept to shape the future of industrial sustainability for manufacturers. Indeed manufacturing no longer has to have a negative connotation in regards to the sustainable impact. Shifts in consumer demand now require a higher level of product transparency. Manufacturers must now consider the impact their products have on the end-user; for building materials that means the inhabitants of the building. This work highlights the changes in the marketplace that require a change in historic product disclosures and identify a path forward. We will describe Owens Corningâ??s experiences participating as a pilot for the Living Product Challenge and identify opportunities for other manufacturers in similar spaces.

As a participant in the pilot program for the living product challenge, Owens Corning helped set a new standard. Living Product Challenge is a new comprehensive product transparency model that extends beyond environmental impact to include manufacturing facility interaction with habitat, worker safety, and responsible supply chain management. The company historically employed multiple third-party agencies to evaluate the product recycled content, VOC emissions, and the safety of chemical ingredients. Under the Living Product Challenge, the fragmented product certification market is consolidated and extended.

Owens Corning Sustainability is on the leading edge and it serves as a model for other manufacturers and hopes to encourage others to join in on the movement.