Saint-Gobain Achieves Core Living Building Ready Designation From the International Living Future Institute for CertainTeed Innovation Malvern Renovation

Saint-Gobain announced today that CertainTeed Innovation Malvern, its research and development center located on its North American headquarters campus in Malvern, Pennsylvania, has received a Core Living Building Ready designation by The International Living Future Institute (ILFI), only the second interior renovation project in the world to achieve this distinguished status.

The milestone comes as Saint-Gobain continues to successfully execute its Grow and Impact strategy, which includes ambitious environmental sustainability goals such as reducing the company’s consumption of energy and water, and achieving net-zero carbon manufacturing by 2050. The renovation project, which will create a more sustainable, comfortable and accessible workspace, is also pursuing LEED Platinum certification by the US Green Building Council.

Created by The International Living Future Institute in 2019 as the starting point of its Living Building Challenge, Core Certification recognizes projects on a journey toward fully regenerative building practices. To achieve a ready designation, Saint-Gobain worked throughout the CertainTeed Innovation Malvern renovation to achieve stringent performance-based standards in areas such as water and energy usage, landfill reduction, and the use of sustainable materials. These include:

• The project is designed to use of 50% less water annually (55,000 gallon savings per year)
• Design for a 35% energy reduction over a base-case
• The production of 35,000 kWh of energy annually from a rooftop solar array
• The use of 211 unique low-embodied carbon, full transparency materials, several of which were Saint-Gobain’s own products
• The 100% utilization of wood products from low-risk sources (52% of which were Forest Stewardship Council certified or intentionally harvested and reused onsite)
• The diversion of 85.62% of construction and demolition waste from landfill
• Sourcing over 50% of materials from within 310 miles of the site

“As the leaders in light and sustainable construction, our teams across CertainTeed Research & Development work every day to lower the embodied carbon in our products and provide solutions that decarbonize the built environment,” said Todd DiNoia, Vice President of Innovation and R&D at Saint-Gobain North America. “With the renovation of our CertainTeed Innovation Malvern facility, we have strived to create an R&D environment that further reflects this commitment to sustainability, and we are honored to achieve a Core Living Building Ready designation from The International Living Future Institute.”

“The first time that we toured the existing MIC building and talked with Saint-Gobain about the intent for renovations, Living Building Challenge immediately jumped out to us as the right sustainability framework for the project,” said Drew Lavine, Partner and Director of Design for Re:Vision Architecture. “Pursuing the challenge through Core Certification would build on Saint-Gobain’s corporate sustainability goals, showcase sustainable products in their portfolio, uplift biophilic design, and center the project’s values on their staff’s health and wellbeing. As architect and sustainability consultant for the project, Re:Vision was continuously impressed with Saint-Gobain’s commitment to Living Building Challenge and collaboration to achieving this goal!”

“ILFI’s Core certification recognizes highly efficient buildings that are designed to create a positive impact,” said Lindsay Baker, CEO of the International Living Future Institute. “This is especially meaningful right now as we need to deliver climate-responsive, equitable, and health-promoting solutions through all buildings in our communities. ILFI is excited to celebrate this milestone with Saint-Gobain.”

Before final Core Living Building Certification can be granted, CertainTeed Innovation Malvern will enter a 12-month performance period beginning later this summer to prove achievement of ambitious design reductions in water and energy use.

This project follows several other recent actions taken by the company to solidify its commitment towards sustainability:

• In March, Saint-Gobain announced that its CertainTeed Siding business had reduced manufacturing related emissions by 96% at three facilities in the United States.
   
• In February, Saint-Gobain announced that it had completed the installation of a heat recovery system at its gypsum facility in Vancouver, British Columbia, which will lead to a 15% reduction in Scope 1 carbon emissions.
   
• In September, Saint-Gobain announced that it signed a 15-year, 100 MW power purchase agreement with TotalEnergies for the purchase of solar power, expected to offset Saint-Gobain North America’s CO2 emissions from electricity by 90,000 metric tons per year.
   
• In August, Saint-Gobain announced a circular economy initiative in its Ceramics business, where scrap finished goods from its Bryan, Texas facility are sent to other Saint-Gobain Ceramics plants to be reused in production, instead of ending in landfills.
   
• In July, the company announced upgrades at its CertainTeed Insulation plant in Athens, Georgia, which is projected to save over 7,300 MWh of energy and 20 million gallons of water annually, while reducing landfill waste by over 5,000 MT.
   
• Also in July, Saint-Gobain announced the opening of a new CertainTeed Architectural facility in Conyers, Georgia, which will be co-located with finishing partner QPC, allowing the company to drastically reduce the distance products must travel to finalize production, reducing carbon emissions by over 50 million pounds per year.
   
• In June, Saint-Gobain announced that it had been awarded a 2023 SEAL Business Sustainability Award for its work to create the first “net zero-carbon” gypsum wallboard facility for scope 1 and 2 emissions in North America at its plant outside Montreal, Quebec.

With over 145 manufacturing locations in the United States and Canada, every current and future member of the company’s team plays a vital role in achieving its sustainability goals. A current list of job openings at all Saint-Gobain locations, including in Pennsylvania, can be found on the company’s career website.

About Saint-Gobain

Worldwide leader in light and sustainable construction, Saint-Gobain designs, manufactures and distributes materials and services for the construction and industrial markets. Its integrated solutions for the renovation of public and private buildings, light construction and the decarbonization of construction and industry are developed through a continuous innovation process and provide sustainability and performance. The Group’s commitment is guided by its purpose, “MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER HOME”.

€47.9 billion in sales in 2023 
160,000 employees, locations in 76 countries 
Committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050

For more information about Saint-Gobain, visit www.saint-gobain.com and follow us on Twitter @saintgobain

Media Contacts

Peter Clark 
(+1) 603 513-8513