Masonry Magazine November 2009 Page. 20
Sustainability
Through
Natural Stone
A CONVERSATION WITH THE NATURAL STONE COUNCIL'S JOHN MATTKE
THREE YEARS AGO, THE NATURAL STONE COUNCIL (NSC) TOOK ENORMOUS STEPS TO ESTABLISH NATURAL STONE AS A PREFERRED, SUSTAINABLE BUILDING MATERIAL. After the most comprehensive survey to date of the natural stone industry's practices, the NSC, in partnership with the University of Tennessee's Center for Clean Products (CCP), has produced a library of information regarding Genuine Stone" and the environment (www.genuinestone.com). Their progressive research has substantiated that natural stone possesses many benefits and is a smart green building material.
NSC Co-Chairman and Chair of the NSC's Sustainability Committee, John Mattke, recently provided Masonry with an update on the organization's and industry's efforts.
Masonry: What has the NSC learned about natural stone and sustainability through its research in the last few years?
John Mattke: The NSC was committed to substantiating the industry's environmental footprint through scientific means using a credible and neutral third party that we found in CCP. We were sensitive to "greenwashing" and did not want to be associated with it in any way. (Greenwash is a term used to describe the practice of companies disingenuously spinning their products and policies as environmentally friendly.)
Our research enabled us to create baselines from which the stone industry can measure progress and solidify the environmental advantages of utilizing stone products. Through an analysis of the data we collected, we have initiated industry-wide solutions to reduce the life-cycle impacts of stone products by developing a series of best practices to convey how the natural stone industry supports the green movement in quarrying, fabrication and reclamation. We created independent life-cycle inventories of natural stone products that we are currently using to populate a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The results of the LCA will feed into material selection and evaluation tools such as Athena Calculator, Pharos, BEES, the Living Building Challenge building material questionnaire and the like. This fall, we also will complete an LCA on stone cladding and various competitive materials.
We have focused on communicating stone's environmental performance effectively within the industry and the green building marketplace through material fact sheets, data sets, case studies, trade events, etc. If you aren't aware of the library of resources we've established, please visit www.genuinestone.com/env_researchandresults.php.
Masonry: Which of the industry's best practices and case studies are most relevant to masons? Why?
Mattke: I think all of the resources we've produced will be of interest to masons. If forced to pick one, I'd recommend