With Temperatures Rising the Industry Is More Committed Than Ever
In May of this year, Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service announced that global heat records were shattered for a 12th consecutive month. Also in May, the National Centers for Environmental Information in the U.S. reported a record-high monthly global ocean surface temperature for the 14th consecutive month.
These days, the conversation around climate change has never been louder and the door, window and related industries are answering back.
For 15 years now, [DWM] has highlighted manufacturers, organizations and related companies that go above and beyond to protect the planet. In 2024, the industry’s response is palpable.
Commitment: Bendheim
As a worldwide provider of specialty architectural glass, Bendheim is committed to reducing its corporate scope one and two emissions by 30%, by 2030. The company’s self-proclaimed mission is “to lead the glass industry with innovative, sustainable products and a human-centered approach that exceeds customer needs while making positive environmental and social impacts for generations to come.”
In August 2023, the company announced “Building a Clear Future,” a comprehensive initiative to advance sustainability.
“Our ‘Building a Clear Future’ program encompasses a wide spectrum of efforts designed to reduce the environmental impact of the built environment and promote human well-being,” said company president Donald Jayson.
To help achieve that goal, Bendheim:
• Installed solar panels at its facility in Wayne, New Jersey, generating clean energy and reducing operational carbon emissions;
• Signed and committed to eight of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development goals adopted by all United Nations;
• Benchmarked corporate energy, carbon and waste to establish environmental impacts; and
• Evaluated energy usage of operations, establishing clear energy reduction targets.
www.bendheim.co
Innovation: Novagard
Novagard has made a splash in recent years by developing quick-set, low-migration adhesives, but the company’s goals go beyond just providing faster, more effective products. Officials also have developed a set of green initiatives that are designed to protect people and the planet.
To protect people, the company’s products meet volatile organic compound (VOC) requirements across all 50 states, as well as are Proposition 65 compliant for California. They’re also free of polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
The company’s R&D scientists are also working to develop new products using raw materials that are stripped of Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4), Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) and Dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6) cyclics, making them safer for people during application and throughout the curing process.
To help protect the planet, Novagard:
• Initiated a mineral spirits filtering and recycling program as part of its manufacturing process with the goal of reducing consumption by 30%;
• Began using soybean oil as a plasticizer in several products; and
• Is working with its cartridge provider to reduce the amount of plastic and to include more post-consumer plastic in the manufacturing of cartridges.
www.novagard.com
Impact: Magid
It isn’t every day that you expect a glove and personal protective wear manufacturer to be concerned with drinking water. But in April of this year, Magid announced it’s switching away from the traditional process of manufacturing micro-foam nitrile-coated gloves due to an “enormous amount” of wasted drinkable water. According to company officials, just one 40-foot container of traditional micro-foam nitrile coating uses an entire year’s worth of drinking water for 688 people.
The foam nitrile palm coating in Magid’s new GP102 general purpose work glove uses no drinking water at all. Meanwhile, the company is applying its new coating to a glove shell that’s made with 90% Global Recycled Standard-certified yarn and packaged in 100% recycled, earth-friendly material. The new foam coating is softer and more flexible than standard nitrile, while maintaining the oil and water resistance of traditional foam nitrile.
Other environmental efforts by the company include:
• Solar Power: In 2018, Magid added the largest privately held rooftop solar array in the Midwest to its 700,000-sq.-ft. facility, via 10,000 solar panels, reducing its carbon emissions by approximately 5,700 metric tons of CO₂ each year.
• Greener Manufacturing and Sustainable Packaging: Every new product line is packaged in cardboard-sleeve packaging instead of plastic polybags. Like the GP102, all future product innovations will be made only from recycled yarn polymers when possible.
www.magidglove.com
Technology: Guardian Glass
As the focus on embodied carbon makes its way from the commercial to the residential sector, Guardian Glass has made it easier for manufacturers to do the math. The company introduced a new feature for its Performance Calculator tool, allowing users to calculate the embodied carbon for glazing configurations. The online tool enables the modeling of thermal and optical properties of glass substrates, coatings and interlayers and a new Performance Calculator feature provides an estimate of the embodied carbon equivalent for a wide number of combinations.
Calculations are available for most float glass and sputter-coated glass products produced by Guardian Glass in North America, South America, Europe and Africa Middle East (AME).
The company also published new Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for its flat, unprocessed glass products and processed glass products produced in North America.
www.guardianglass.com
Innovation: Symphony Environmental
As the world cues in on plastics pollution and microplastics, Symphony has introduced a new biodegradable plastic technology. The advancement allows ordinary plastic to be converted into a non-plastic biodegradable compound at the end of its service life. The material is then bio-assimilated safely in the open environment, similar to organic material, without leaving microplastics behind. This process—known as oxo-biodegradation—is fundamentally different to “oxo-degradable” plastic, which can break down into microplastics, company officials say.
According to company information, at the end of the process, materials are no longer a plastic, but have changed into a material which is biodegradable, by bacteria and fungi, in the open environment.
For now, the technology is applied to bags and other forms of packaging, but it illustrates what’s possible in plastics with the potential to reach other areas of industry.
www.symphonyenvironmental.com
Key Facts About Plastics (According to Symphony):
• Only 9% of all plastic produced is recycled;
• Two million plastic bags are used every minute worldwide;
• Every minute of every day a truckload of plastic is dumped into the ocean; and
• More than 70% of beach litter worldwide is plastic.
Break- Through: Alpen High Performance Products
In 2024, Alpen redefined thin-glass insulating glass units (IGUs), upending industry nomenclature, by introducing thin-glass quads—IGUs with two inner lites of thin glass. Now Alpen is spreading the impacts of its highly efficient thin-glass IGUs even farther by offering them to other door and window manufacturers nationwide. AlpenGlass brand IGUs incorporate thin glass ranging from 0.5- to 1.1-mm. Quad-pane, 1-inch IGUs with two lites of thin glass produce R-15 thermal performance. When compared to double-pane IGUs, the additional weight and thickness is “negligible,” the company suggests. Weeks after launching a new endeavor to sell thin-triple and thin-quad insulating glass units to other door and window manufacturers, officials announced $18 million in funding to fuel its new project. A new $5.9 million grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) was awarded to the company as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Recovery Act (BIL/IRA), helping to catalyze an additional $12.1 million in private capital funds. The influx of capital will be used to bolster production of its thin-glass IGUs by 20-fold.
www.thinkalpen.com
Commitment: Ensinger
Officials for Ensinger say they “strongly believe that climate change and ecosystem deterioration, brought about by human activities impacting the environment and pollution, must be addressed promptly.” In September 2021, the company added Climate Protection and Strategy and Circular Economy to its areas of focus, a year later announcing a target for reaching net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions throughout its supply chain (scopes one, two and three) by 2046. The company aims to reduce absolute scope one and two GHG emissions by 45%, by fiscal year 2031. It will do so by reducing absolute scope three GHG emissions from purchased goods and services, fueling and energy related activities, upstream transportation and distribution, waste generated in operations, business travel, and employee commuting by 45%. In the long run, Ensinger will reduce absolute scope one and two GHG emissions by 90% by fiscal year 2041. To make an even broader impact, the company has introduced sustainable plastic solutions, including bio-based and reprocessed stock shapes, with two product lines that reduce the company’s CO₂ footprint;
Bio-based plastics: Produced from materials generated by the wood-processing industry and other organic waste, the manufacturing method for bio-based plastics is similar to conventional production, so “similar property profiles” are guaranteed with comparable specifications; and
Reprocessed plastics: Generated from returned materials and production waste using mechanical treatment processes, although the material properties for reprocessed plastics may vary slightly from conventional materials, the differences are significantly outweighed by the environment benefits, officials suggest.
www.ensingerplastics.com
Impact: Roto Frank Austria
Roto Frank Austria began production for a biomass heating plant this year in Kalsdorf, Austria. The plant produces 4 megawatts of power and features a 90kWp photovoltaic installation, allowing it to produce 50% of required power without depending on any external sources for heating the premises and processing water. Meanwhile, using biomass ensures a carbon-neutral heating supply, officials pointed out. The plant plays an important role for the company’s 18 production sites worldwide and will reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of its Kalsdorf plant by 2,160 tons per year.
www.roto-frank.com
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