Find a Contractor Buyer's Guide
MCAA Logo
Member Login JOIN
NEWS
Join Us For The 75th Anniversary Midyear Meeting Sep 7-11 ↗

NSC Develops Plan to Promote Sustainable Practices for Industry

Words: Dennis f BuechelThe Natural Stone Council (NSC), a collaborative organization representing business and trade associations that promote stone under the Genuine Stone™ brand, announced the partnership of their Committee on Sustainability with the University of Tennessee’s Center for Clean Products. The alliance is charged with researching and promoting the ways that natural stone can contribute to the green building movement.

The NSC's Green Committee met with Jack Geibig, director of the University of Tennessee’s Center for Clean Products in Washington, D.C. Geibig and his team of environmental engineers proposed a comprehensive, multi-year sustainability plan that includes background research, the development of product-specific environmental fact sheets and data supporting life cycle assessment, and benchmarking of industry environmental practices, as well as communication of this information to both the stone industry and the design community.

The committee and research team are currently in the early phases of conducting on-site reviews of the environmental impacts of natural stone quarrying and fabrication processes. From these reviews, a data collection tool will be developed to gather information from as many stone quarries and fabricators as possible. This information will help establish the baseline environmental footprint of the stone industry and form the building blocks for creating life cycle data and developing life cycle assessments of Genuine Stone compared to other building materials.

"Because stone is such an important material in a number of key building product classes, it is crucial for the natural stone industry to be able to characterize the life cycle impacts of its products in order to meet the evolving demands of the green building marketplace," said NSC Committee on Sustainability Chairman John Mattke. "In order to do this, we are developing and pursuing a plan to promote the identification and adoption of sustainable practices throughout the industry."

By the end of 2008, the NSC Committee on Sustainability and the Center for Clean Products plans to have accomplished the following:
  • Completed the benchmarking process for key manufacturing and quarrying operations during the production of natural stone products

  • Identified stone industry best practices

  • Established effective communications and outreach efforts both to internal and external groups

  • Developed and distributed life cycle inventory datasets for key materials and operations

  • Created environmental specification sheets for several natural stone materials.
The NSC Committee on Sustainability consists of Chairman John Mattke, Cold Spring Granite Company; Alex Bacharach, Stone World Magazine; Bill Eubank, Luck Stone Corporation; Dan Ouellette, Luck Stone Corporation; Kathy Spanier, Cold Spring Granite Company; Quade Weaver, TexaStone Quarries; and Garen Distelhorst, Marble Institute of America.

For more information on what the NSC Committee on Sustainability is doing to promote Genuine Stone as a green building product, or for information on the green building movement in general, visit www.genuinestone.org.
 0
Using Respirators for Silica Exposure
July 2025

Some in the masonry industry have expressed interest in respirator use as protection from harmful exposure to silica. This topic is of paramount importance due to its impact on our workers and the serious health effects of silica exposure. For those new t

Zach Everett
Read More
From Bikes to Buildings: The Importance of Embracing Rainscreen Wall Designs and the New Building Codes.
July 2025

Have you ever been asked to do a project over the course of your lifetime? For example, when my kids were little, my wife asked me to assemble their bicycles. So, I opened the box, dumped out the contents, and cast aside whatever I thought was unnecessary

Keith Lolley
MAP Partner
Read More
Laying the Foundation for Growth: Concrete Masonry Checkoff Unveils Five-Year Vision for Industry
July 2025

The Concrete Masonry Checkoff (CMC) put the finishing touches on an ambitious five-year vision for the industry, targeting a 20% increase in market share, driven by increased demand for concrete masonry products. “This is about building exquisite, enduri

Industry News
Read More
Five of the Seven Chimneys Have Been Saved: Project Chimney Update
July 2025

In the wake of the devastating January wildfires that swept through Los Angeles's Pacific Palisades, a remarkable preservation effort is underway, spearheaded by Project Chimney, an initiative led by Evan Hall, founding director of the non-profit House Mu

Justin Stengel
Industry News
Read More