Life Cycle Assessment and Product Evaluation
At Owens Corning, we have performed life cycle assessments on many of our core products to improve processes that maximize their positive environmental impacts. In addition, the Product Stewardship reviews provide confirmation of safety, performance and environmental standards for new and existing products.
Life Cycle Assessment
Over the past five years, we have performed more than 30 product life cycle assessments including R-13 Fiberglas™ insulation, FOAMULAR® sheathing, the Energy Complete™ insulation and air sealing system and Advantex® glass. Each assessment examines all stages of the product's life, starting with the extraction of resources for raw material inputs, continuing through processing, manufacturing and product use and ending with disposal or recycling.
In 2010, to help our composite customers address product sustainability and compete effectively against other material systems, we performed multiple assessments for several composite applications, such as glass fiber-reinforced cement. We also participated in a multi-product, multi-manufacturer life cycle assessment sponsored by the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association, which will be used to help educate consumers about the positive environmental qualities of glass-fiber-based insulation.
As part of our new 2020 goals, we will make transparent the lifecycle assessment of all of our core products by 2015. Learn about our other long-term goals.
Product Stewardship Review
All new and significantly modified existing products sold by Owens Corning undergo a comprehensive Product Stewardship Review to ensure that they perform as claimed and are safe and environmentally sound to make, use and dispose. We have conducted more than 700 since 1997.
Product reviews address all elements of Owens Corning's Environmental, Health, Safety and Product Stewardship Policy, and are carried out by highly qualified Product Stewardship Review Board members. They review several product stages, including the design, development, test market, manufacture and distribution phases.
As part of the product stewardship process, developers are asked to complete a sustainability scorecard. This scorecard is used to evaluate how the new product or process will impact the company's sustainability goals, tracking three key areas:
Business unit's sustainability footprint
Use of sustainable-design strategies
Other societal, environmental and health impacts
This process provides an effective framework to help project teams reduce the environmental impacts of our products and the processes required to produce them.
