The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognized Better Plants partner Saint-Gobain for their “Green Awards” program, which highlights and recognizes individual researchers for their sustainability-related R&D projects. As part of the DOE’s Better Buildings Initiative, Better Plants works with leading manufacturers and water and wastewater treatment agencies to boost their competitiveness through improvements in energy efficiency.

The annual Better Practice Awards are bestowed upon partners for innovative and industry-leading accomplishments in implementing and promoting practices, principles, and procedures of energy management. Saint-Gobain was recognized for its work in creating an awards program for researchers at our R&D Center in Northborough, Massachusetts who put an emphasis on sustainability in the research and development phase of new product development. The Green Awards, as they are known, provide a true incentive for researchers to lead with sustainability at a critical point in the product life cycle – the beginning. The projects tracked across a wide variety of critical areas, including waste reduction, energy savings, CO2 emissions decreases, reduction in raw materials, and improvements in worker safety.

“Sustainability is only achievable if we hold ourselves accountable and stay committed to the journey in all the places we can influence it,” said Dennis Wilson, vice president, Sustainability and EHS, Saint-Gobain North America. “As a Better Plants Program Partner, we are committed to increasing energy efficiency nationwide across our manufacturing plants, and we’re honored to be recognized for fostering an action-oriented culture of stainability across the organization.”

“Better Plants partners are implementing innovative energy, water, and waste reduction solutions in the industrial space that are cutting costs and energy use while supporting job creation, combating the climate crisis, and driving a clean energy future in the U.S. The Better Plants Better Practice and Better Project awards honor their leadership,” said Dr. Michael McKittrick, acting director, Advanced Manufacturing Office, U.S. Department of Energy.

In addition to creating the Green Awards, the Saint-Gobain team worked to first educate researchers in Northborough that the sustainability impact of their projects could go beyond what was then the tried-and-true metric inside the company – materials reduction for cost-saving. By creating an awards program that rewarded more of the upstream work that helps work toward the sustainability of the company’s products, the team was able to reframe the entire New Product Development lifecycle through a sustainable lens. Now, the program is expanding to move beyond just the Northborough team, and will now include all of the research centers in the North American Region.

Saint Gobain and other 2021 Better Practice Award winners were formally recognized at the 2021 Better Buildings, Better Plants Summit – a virtual leadership symposium – on May 19, 2021.

As part of the broader Better Buildings Initiative, Better Plants partners voluntarily set a long-term goal, typically to reduce energy intensity by 25 percent over a 10-year period across all their U.S. operations. DOE supports these efforts with technical expertise and national recognition.

Read more about Better Plants partner results, showcase projects, and innovative solutions being shared with others in the 2020 Better Plants Progress Update. For more details on Saint-Gobain, visit www.saint-gobain.com and follow us on Twitter @saintgobain.

About Saint Gobain

Saint-Gobain designs, manufactures and distributes materials and solutions for the construction, mobility, healthcare and other industrial application markets. Developed through a continuous innovation process, they can be found everywhere in our living places and daily life, providing wellbeing, performance and safety, while addressing the challenges of sustainable construction, resource efficiency and the fight against climate change.

This strategy of responsible growth is guided by the Saint-Gobain purpose, “MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER HOME,” which responds to the shared ambition of all the women and men in the Group to act every day to make the world a more beautiful and sustainable place to live in.

€42.6 billion in sales in 2019
More than 170, 000 employees, located in 70 countries
Committed to achieving Carbon Neutrality by 2050