John Crowe Appointed President and CEO of Saint-Gobain and CertainTeed Corporations

VALLEY FORGE, Pa., Aug. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Saint-Gobain, the world's largest building materials company, has announced the appointment of John Crowe as President and CEO of both Saint-Gobain Corporation (Saint-Gobain's North American holding company) and CertainTeed Corporation (Saint-Gobain's largest North American subsidiary).

Crowe takes on these two roles effective September 1.  As President and CEO of Saint-Gobain Corporation, Crowe will act as Saint-Gobain's representative in North America, overseeing the company's North American businesses and chairing the company's Executive Committee.  In this role, he succeeds Gilles Colas, who will return to Saint-Gobain's Paris headquarters as Senior Vice President in charge of global strategic developments.

In addition, Crowe will assume operational responsibility for CertainTeed, following in the footsteps of Peter Dachowski, who will retire as President and CEO on August 31 after 35 years of service in a wide variety of senior leadership roles at Saint-Gobain and CertainTeed.  

"With more than 30 years of experience in Saint-Gobain's innovative materials businesses, John is an exceptional leader with strong operational skills," said Pierre-Andre de Chalendar, Chairman and CEO of Saint-Gobain.  "His appointment underscores Saint-Gobain's focus on leveraging its innovation and technical expertise to develop products and solutions that change the way we think about built environments.  John will help CertainTeed and other Saint-Gobain businesses in North America develop innovative materials that advance the way we build today in order to meet the challenges of tomorrow."

Crowe sees his main role as continuing to drive innovation throughout the company. "CertainTeed has been a leader in the construction industry for over one hundred years – Saint-Gobain for over three centuries – but we have never seen such a rapid pace of change, or so many exciting new building technologies," said Crowe.  

According to Crowe, Saint-Gobain is investing in research and innovation across all its businesses to challenge what we can expect from our buildings in order to improve the lives of those who occupy them – making them more efficient, durable, sustainable and healthy.  Crowe notes that this goal is the inspiration behind every Saint-Gobain product.

"Within CertainTeed, we've already developed sustainable building products that reduce noise, improve air quality, save energy and more," said Crowe.  "Within the broader Saint-Gobain family of companies, we're developing innovative solutions such as substrates for LED and OLED sustainable lighting, as well as intelligent, energy-efficient glass that automatically switches from clear to tinted.  We're also investing strongly in solar power and other technologies that will reduce energy costs in the future. My role is to help keep Saint-Gobain and CertainTeed at the forefront of this wave of innovation, while continuing to serve our customers with the high-quality, sustainable building products they need today."

Crowe most recently served as President of Saint-Gobain's global abrasives business, with responsibility for more than 13,000 employees and 75 manufacturing facilities in 24 countries. For 30 years, he has served in a wide range of leadership positions within Saint-Gobain group, including President of the Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics and Saint-Gobain Crystals businesses.

He holds a BS in chemical engineering from Clarkson University (Potsdam, New York) and an MBA from Boston College. Crowe has also completed Columbia University's executive program in business administration.

About Saint-Gobain in North America

Saint-Gobain, the world's largest building materials company, has its North American headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.  As the world leader in sustainable habitat, Saint-Gobain is committed to inventing solutions to help professionals and communities around the world build and renovate comfortable, healthy, economical and energy-efficient buildings. The company has more than 265 locations in North America and approximately 19,000 employees. In the United States and Canada, Saint-Gobain reported sales of approximately $7.3 billion in 2010.

Saint-Gobain's family of companies in North America includes CertainTeed Corporation, which offers the most comprehensive portfolio of interior and exterior building products in North America, as well as Saint-Gobain Abrasives, Saint-Gobain ADFORS (previously known as Saint-Gobain Technical Fabrics), Vetrotech Saint-Gobain North America, Saint-Gobain Glass, Saint-Gobain Solar, Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics and more.

Recognized as a 2009 and 2010 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Saint-Gobain earned the 2011 ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence Award, the highest level of recognition for outstanding contributions to protecting the environment through energy efficiency. For information about Saint-Gobain in North America, visit www.saint-gobain-northamerica.com

About Saint-Gobain Worldwide

Saint-Gobain (SGO:PAR), headquartered in Paris, is the world leader in habitat markets – providing innovative solutions to meet today's challenges of growth, energy efficiency and environmental protection. With 2010 sales of $53.2 billion, Saint-Gobain operates in 64 countries and nearly 190,000 employees. For more information about Saint-Gobain, please visit www.saint-gobain.com.

About CertainTeed

Through the responsible development of innovative and sustainable building products, CertainTeed, headquartered in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, has helped shape the building products industry for more than 100 years. Founded in 1904 as General Roofing Manufacturing Company, the firm's slogan "Quality Made Certain, Satisfaction Guaranteed," quickly inspired the name CertainTeed. Today, CertainTeed® is North America's leading brand of exterior and interior building products, including roofing, siding, fence, decking, railing, trim, foundations, pipe, insulation, gypsum, ceilings and access covers.

A subsidiary of Saint-Gobain, the world's largest building products company, CertainTeed and its affiliates have more than 6,000 employees and more than 65 manufacturing facilities throughout the United States and Canada. CertainTeed had total sales of approximately $3 billion in 2010. www.certainteed.com

SOURCE Saint-Gobain