Products from Alcoa's Kawneer Business Earn Cradle-to-Cradle Certification
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Environmental Certification Reflects Alcoa's Ongoing Commitment to Creating Sustainable Products and Materials
NORCROSS, Ga.-- Alcoa (NYSE:AA) announced today that its Kawneer North America business, the leading manufacturer of architectural aluminum products and systems for the commercial construction industry, has been awarded Cradle to CradleSM environmental product certification at the Silver level for its 1600 Wall System®1 and 1600 Wall System®2, InLighten® Light Shelf and 1600 SunShade®. Cradle to Cradle (C2C) is an independent U.S. environmental certification process for materials and products, assessing the total impact of a product on human health and the environment. These are the first C2C certifications awarded to Kawneer and reflect Kawneer and Alcoa's ongoing commitment to sustainability.
C2C certified products must meet several criteria in the categories of non-toxic material content, recycling, production energy and water use, and social responsibility. McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC), a consulting firm focused on industrial development, developed the C2C certification program. The process is an extensive evaluation of a material or product's ingredients, and the complete product, for their impact on not only human and environmental health, but also the capacity for the product to be recycled or safely composted. C2C is poised to be the leading rating system for green products in parallel to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system for green buildings. Recently, C2C was included in LEED as an "Innovation Credit," in which a project seeking certification can achieve credit if at least 2.5 percent of its building products are C2C certified. For more information on C2C certification visit www.c2ccertified.com.
"Now architects can more easily leverage the Kawneer product range to achieve LEED credits at no added cost," said Eddie Bugg, Director of Sustainable Solutions. "With these certifications, Kawneer offers the broadest range of C2C certified products in the architectural aluminum industry."
Sustainability is at the heart of Kawneer's product line, which is comprised of one of the earth's most plentiful recyclables - aluminum. And its range of thermal and solar products works to maximize energy savings, while reducing energy demand. For C2C certification, a thorough audit of each of the following products was conducted:
InLighten® Light Shelf reflects sunlight deep into the interior of a building by bouncing natural light up to the ceiling. Composed of an extruded aluminum chassis system and lightweight Aluminum Composite Material panel surfaces, the InLighten® Light Shelf is installed as an extension to the curtain wall. The assembled light shelf elements reduce requirements for perimeter artificial lighting and conserving electrical energy costs.
Kawneer's 1600 SunShade®can assist in achieving maximum daylighting while minimizing direct sunlight penetration and solar heat gain. 1600 SunShade provides a variety of texture and design elements, which can be combined multiple ways for greater aesthetic versatility. It is pre-engineered and easily assembled, helping save installation time and money.
1600 Wall System®1 and 1600 Wall System®2 provide reliability with versatile features. Both are stick-fabricated, pressure glazed curtain walls for low-to-mid-rise applications and designed to be used independently or as an integrated system to provide visual impact for almost any type of building. 1600 Wall System®1 is an outside glazed, captured curtain wall and 1600 Wall System®2 is a Structural Silicone Glazed (SSG) curtain wall. Enhanced for higher performance, pressure equalization is designed into the system and all components are silicone compatible to provide superior longevity.
As a member of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), Kawneer is committed to creating a portfolio of products and resources that can help architects achieve performance and aesthetic goals for their projects while enhancing the sustainability of those buildings. Kawneer's products can also help contribute to LEED certification credits in a variety of categories. In addition, Kawneer recently showcased its advanced facade capability during the Greenbuild 2008 International Conference and Expo in Boston. Kawneer's advanced facade is a synergistic, seamless integration of products designed to provide advanced energy performance and indoor environmental quality and its display featured its 1600 SunShade® and InLighten® Light Shelf.
To learn more about Kawneer and its sustainable product offering, please visit Kawneergreen.com or Kawneer.com. For product applications or technical assistance with a LEED project, contact Kawneer's Architectural Services Team toll free at 877.767.9107.
About Kawneer
With more than 100 years of innovation and experience, Kawneer North America is headquartered in Norcross, GA, and is the leading manufacturer of architectural aluminum products and systems for the commercial construction industry. Kawneer is part of Alcoa's global Building and Construction Systems (BCS) business unit. Alcoa BCS manufactures and markets architectural systems and products in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Alcoa is the world's leading producer and manager of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum, and alumina facilities, and is active in all major aspects of the industry. For more information on Kawneer or its products, please visit www.kawneer.com.
About Alcoa
Alcoa is the world leader in the production and management of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum and alumina combined, through its active and growing participation in all major aspects of the industry. Alcoa serves the aerospace, automotive, packaging, building and construction, commercial transportation and industrial markets, bringing design, engineering, production and other capabilities of Alcoa's businesses to customers. In addition to aluminum products and components including flat-rolled products, hard alloy extrusions, and forgings, Alcoa also markets Alcoa® wheels, fastening systems, precision and investment castings, and building systems. The Company has 97,000 employees in 34 countries and has been named one of the top most sustainable corporations in the world at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. More information can be found at www.alcoa.com.
