The
Natural Stone Council (NSC), a collaborative organization representing business
and trade associations that promote stone under the Genuine Stone brand,
recently announced preliminary results of its comprehensive study of the
natural stone industry. An in-depth look at quarry and processing operations
over the last year has enabled the NSC to identify the industry’s best
practices as well as to better define areas of focus to establish natural stone’s
environmental profile.
A total of 42 North American companies responded to the survey, yielding data
for a sum of 64 quarries and 45 processing facilities. The submitted data
represents over 16 million cubic feet of net quarried stone and nearly 6
million cubic feet of net stone produced by fabricators. Responding to the
survey in the greatest numbers is the granite and limestone sectors, which is
not surprising given that these stone types dominate U.S. stone production, according to
the NSC. Sandstone and marble - and to a small extent slate and travertine -
comprise the remainder of stone reported.
With regard to quarry operations, adequate information was collected to
assemble an initial life-cycle inventory for granite, limestone and sandstone
in the near future. Data is still being collected to do the same for marble.
The first versions of these data sets are in their final draft stages and will
be available on the Genuine Stone Web site,www.GenuineStone.org, this
fall.
Survey responses revealed that water consumption efficiency will be key for the
industry’s sustainability profile because of increasing global water shortages,
reports the NSC. This issue - along with site maintenance and quarry closure -
have been identified as topics for best practice briefs.
When it comes to processing operations, an important issue for the industry to
address is the diversity in the transportation distance of stone. Again, water
consumption will be a significant topic in discussions about sustainability.
Survey responses indicate that water reclamation is one of the industry’s best
practices, and it will be the topic of the NSC’s first best practice brief to
be distributed in early September.
With industry data now in-hand, the NSC will continue to work with the Center
for Clean Products at The University of Tennessee (UT) to perform a life-cycle
analysis of the environmental impacts of certain stone products, identify
strategic sustainability goals for the industry, and continue outreach efforts
to the environmental and Green Building communities through vehicles such as
best practices, case studies and material fact sheets.
“We are encouraged by the initial results of this comprehensive research,” said
John Mattke, Co-Chair of the NSC and Chairman of the NSC’s Committee on
Sustainability. “With solid data behind us, we may now move forward to
highlight our industry’s best practices as well as work together to improve
those areas that will solidify natural stone’s position as a sustainable
building product.”
NSC COMPLETES ENVIRONMENTAL BENCHMARKING ASSESSMENT . . .
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