Setting the Sustainability Standard in Stone

October 14, 2011

One of her important messages is to get people thinking beyond the 500-mile radius required by LEED.

“People will say, ‘Oh, it’s so terrible that you’re going to transport stone from Europe or South America,’” Vierra says. “But, I try to get them to think about the fact that they’re going to have a one-time transportation impact if they specify a long life cycle of 75 or 100 years for the building. Plus, they’re using a material that’s durable and is low-maintenance, and it doesn’t off-gas. I try to help designers balance all these things.”

Particularly with stone coming from Europe, quarriers have a long tradition of supplying stone for projects, and centuries-old buildings that prove stone’s long-term durability. However, it goes beyond that.

“If you go to a stone-fabrication plant there, they’re using natural daylight,” she says. “They’re using the water they find in the mountains, recycling it, and putting it back into the stream when they’re done because they’re not adding chemicals. There’s very little waste generated; and because of the regulations on how quarries are reclaimed, managed, and closed, they’re becoming very savvy in terms of how they utilize all their materials.”

And, because so much of the stone sold in this country is imported, Vierra says quarriers and fabricators worldwide realize that if the U.S. has standards for stone production, they’ll need to follow.

“It will only serve them in the long run, and most of the people I talk with around the world are in favor of being involved with sustainability for the stone industry,” she says. “They think it makes a lot of sense.”

How long it will take to have a standard that the marketplace responds to still isn’t clear. Ecoform’s Geibig believes a standard will be done by sometime next year. What happens after that is in the hands of the industry, he says.

“A few of the leading manufacturers will certify their stone to its standards early on, so the marketplace will be exposed to that,” Geibig says. “Then, the stone industry is going to have to put some effort into marketing it. People aren’t going to wake up one day and know what it means.”

Geibig hopes the stone industry would then follow in the footsteps of the FSC and what he calls “the tremendous job” it did getting a certification plan in place and its standards known within the green building movement.

As the economy improves, quarriers expect green issues to become bigger with builders and their clients at all levels.

“Globally, I think everybody is going to have to raise their game,” says Cold Spring’s Mattke. “We’re seeing it have a bigger impact all the time. We’re constantly being questioned about how we’re doing things and how we’re addressing environmental issues, and I anticipate others are being asked.”

Vierra agrees that everybody – even the local fabrication shop or tile installer – should be prepared to compete a little harder on the green playing field. That will mean being able to talk knowledgeably not just about stone’s merits, but also how its production and use stack up environmentally against other likely and viable alternatives.

“We’re all in a phase of having to learn how everything connects out a little broader than we used to,” she says. “Today, everybody has to absorb more information and understand the broader implications not just in the short term, but how they play out environmentally down the road.”

The companies that can do that and do it well, Vierra believes will see themselves with new marketing opportunities, and greater financial potential.

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