Owens Corning Sustainability Report: Footprint reduction and handprint expansion point toward a net-positive future

TOLEDO, Ohio, July 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) announced significant progress toward achieving its 2020 environmental footprint goals, and declared its intentions to expand its handprint beyond the walls of its facilities. The company released those results today in its eighth annual Sustainability Report.

The company defines its handprint as the net-positive effects of its products, market-leading work to drive energy efficiency and climate-impact improvements across the built environment, and improving the lives of employees, their families and their communities.

"Dedicating time and energy to achieving our sustainability goals, expanding our handprint, is one way we are striving to be better, every day, as a company," said Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer Frank O'Brien-Bernini. "This effort includes the products we offer, collaborating with customers to increase the positive impact of those products in the world and productively engaging in our communities."

The report also highlights Owens Corning's distinction as the winner of the exclusive Green Cross for Safety medal from the National Safety Council for leadership and progress in safety. In 2013, the company extended its industry-leading track record of safety achievement with performance comparable to 2012.

Building on the successes of its first 10-year sustainability goals, this is the third year the company is reporting against its 2020 goals. Introduced in 2011, the company's 2020 goals were designed to expand the scope and further raise the bar on its commitment to sustainability.

"Our footprint reduction accomplishments are representative of the progress we have made this past year," O'Brien-Bernini said. "We've received growing interest and support for our net-positive handprint accounting. It has led us to consider new business models and new ways of serving our customers that we hadn't considered before."

Highlights of 2013 include:

• Commissioned the largest on-site solar PV system in the state of New York at the Delmar EcoTouch™ Insulation plant.
• Recycled one million tons of asphalt shingles in North America, representing approximately 10 percent of the market.
• Doubled our freight miles driven on natural gas (converted from diesel), paving the way to run 15 percent Natural Gas Miles in 2014; the goal is 50 percent by 2020.
• Signed the Climate Declaration calling on the U.S. policymakers to address climate change and joined the Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy (BICEP) advocacy organization.
• Assisted nearly 4,000 families through the donation of insulation and roofing materials for their homes.
• Impacted the lives of more than 5,500 children in China by constructing nutritional food kitchens in rural schools. 

Owens Corning's 2013 Sustainability Report is consistent with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines know as GRI-G3.1. GRI's Sustainability Reporting Guidelines set a globally applicable framework for reporting the economic, environmental and social dimensions of an organization's activities, products and services.

The full report and a downloadable summary progress report are available online at: http://sustainability.owenscorning.com.

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 60 consecutive years, and in business for more than 75 years, Owens Corning is a market-leading innovator of glass-fiber technology with sales of $5.3 billion in 2013 and about 15,000 employees in 27 countries. Additional information is available at www.owenscorning.com.

SOURCE Owens Corning