Only Nine Percent of Energy Used in Production Today Compared to 50 Years
Ago
Owens Corning Uses More Than 1 Billion Pounds of Recycled Glass Each Year
55 Percent Less Raw Materials To Produce Insulation Than 50 Years Ago
TOLEDO, Ohio, July 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Owens Corning (NYSE:
OC), a world leader in building materials systems and glass fiber
reinforcements, has made significant progress throughout its history in
dramatically improving the energy and material efficiency of the production
of glass fiber products.
Today, Owens Corning uses only nine percent of the energy needed 50
years ago to melt glass for its insulation and glass reinforcement
products.
"Energy efficiency is a fundamental part of our approach to
sustainability, which we define as meeting the needs of the present without
compromising the world that we leave to the future," said Frank
O'Brien-Bernini, chief sustainability officer for Owens Corning. "The
production of fiberglass insulation is significantly less energy intensive
than it was 50 years ago as a result of innovation. The amount of energy
used in production is now recouped within about four to five weeks of
product use in a typical building. Moreover, it performs this energy-saving
function for the life of the building with no added resource consumption."
Through continuous product and process innovation, Owens Corning uses
about 55 percent less raw materials to produce the same insulating
characteristics today as it did 50 years ago. In addition, the company
recycles about 1 billion pounds of glass each year.
More recently, the energy needed to produce Owens Corning products has
been reduced by 16 percent during the past five years. The company is
implementing many innovations around the globe to meet its 10-year goal of
a 25 percent energy-intensity reduction by 2012.
Operating about 65 furnaces around the world, Owens Corning
manufacturers fiberglass products for both reinforcements (used in
applications like wind turbine blades, automobiles, infrastructure,
consumer electronics, piping) and insulation products (used in homes,
commercial buildings and industrial energy-saving applications).
"Greening our operations" is fundamental to Owens Corning's business
strategy. For more information on sustainability at Owens Corning, visit
http://www.owenscorning.com/sustainability.
About Owens Corning
Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) is a leading global producer of residential
and commercial building materials, glass fiber reinforcements and
engineered materials for composite systems. A Fortune 500 company for 54
consecutive years, Owens Corning is committed to driving sustainability
through delivering solutions, transforming markets and enhancing lives.
Founded in 1938, Owens Corning is a market-leading innovator of glass fiber
technology with sales of $5 billion in 2007 and 19,000 employees in 26
countries on five continents. Additional information is available at
http://www.owenscorning.com.
SOURCE Owens Corning
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Related links:
http://www.owenscorning.com
http://www.owenscorning.com/sustainability
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/677350.html /
CONTACT:
Media, Jason Saragian, +1-419-248-8987;
Investors, Scott Deitz, +1-419-248-8935, both of Owens Corning
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