Superior Essex Communications is leading the way in the advancement of combined human health and environmental impact transparency by participating in the Declare + Embodied Carbon pilot program.
The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) announced at the Living Product Expo in Nashville (TN) that it would be releasing new Declare labels that include product embodied carbon alongside ingredient disclosure. The labels would be pioneered by Superior Essex along with Armstrong Ceiling and Wall Solutions as well as Interface, one of the leading carpet and flooring manufacturers in the world.
Annie Bevan, Global Head of Sustainability for Superior Essex Communications, said that the design community is starting to consider to the importance and impact of products behind the walls when sourcing sustainable material. She added that being part of this pilot program is an honor she and her team take great pride in.
“Fundamentally our organization believes in going beyond simple transparency and has chosen to lead by example,” she said. “We are working to utilize life cycle assessment data to include life cycle impact thinking into our product design process. Providing embodied carbon information alongside transparent compositional chemistry information on our Declare labels provides a more holistic story for our products, and we’re committed to make finding this information easier for our customers.”
Bevan believes that having attention being paid to the products people don’t see, touch, and feel all the time because they are behind a wall is the next step in a sustainability revolution that is happening in sustainable intelligent building sector.
The mutually beneficial relationship with the ILFI in its revamped Declare label initiative will continue to shine light on what is being done by Superior Essex Communications.
“Declare labels are now considering not only human health optimization and highlighting the elimination of red list chemistries but also how a company is reducing the impact on the environment throughout its life cycle,” she said. “This is a huge step in open communication regarding holistic sustainability.”
The simplicity of the new ILFI program — the ease of use by both manufacturers and product specifiers — have helped to increase the market demand for chemical transparency and healthier building products.
According to the press release issued by the organization, Declare manufacturers are being asked to invest in the future of material health, namely in the reduction of embodied carbon. There is a direct focus on the sourcing of raw materials, manufacturing, and transport, to the waste created through the entire product life cycle, quantifying the contributions of the supply chain and manufacturing of building products to the climate change problem creates data that can be turned into action.
With the additional knowledge of how environmental impacts can further exacerbate human health outcomes, the new Declare labels now incorporate new critical decision making criteria into an important procurement and specification tool.
James Connelly, Vice President of Strategic Growth at IFLI, stated the new labels are designed to specifically target the market demands.
“ILFI is addressing embodied carbon directly,” Connelly said. “As an industry, we’re used to thinking about material health in terms of its impact on human health; now we are leading the products industry with the recognition that embodied carbon, with its impact on climate change and global pollution, also has serious ramifications for human health.
“Our partners are moving the needle on transparency around not only materials but also the energy that goes into manufacturing that have long-term consequences on this planet.”
To read the full press release from ILFI, click here.
To learn more about sustainable intelligent products and buildings from Superior Essex, visit our sustainability microsite here.
About Superior Essex Communications
Superior Essex Communications is the leading manufacturer and supplier of communications cable in North America. It is on the forefront of innovation through Power over Ethernet, Intelligent Buildings and Cities, 5G Fiber infrastructure including Hybrid and Composite solutions, as well as technological advancements being made at its Product Development Center. Superior Essex Communications. Superior Essex Communications is Everywhere You Live and Work® and believes that technology that interconnects the world should also respect it.
About the International Living Future Institute
The International Living Future Institute is an environmental NGO committed to catalyzing the transformation toward communities that are socially just, culturally rich and ecologically restorative. ILFI is premised on the belief that providing a compelling vision for the future is a fundamental requirement for reconciling humanity’s relationship with the natural world. ILFI operates the Living Building Challenge, the built environment’s most ambitious performance standard. It is a hub for many other visionary programs that support the transformation toward a living future. For more information please visit https://living-future.org/.