Project: Benchmarking the Performance and Environmental Impacts of Dimensional Stone Products
In 2007, the Center for Clean Products (CCP) partnered with the Natural Stone Council (NSC), the main trade association for natural stone suppliers, to help define the industry's position in the rapidly-growing green building movement. The overall goal of the CCP-NSC collaboration was to characterize the environmental footprint of several types of natural stone—namely granite, limestone, marble, sandstone, and slate—and to credibly and transparently communicate findings of the research. As a result, this work has identified best management practices of the stone industry, pinpointed environmental advantages and improvement areas, and compared stone cladding to alternative materials.
Information generated by this research includes the following:
- Development of material-specific environmental fact sheets
- Life-cycle datasets describing the quarrying and processing of natural stone
- Identification of data gaps and environmental improvement points of emphasis to inform life-cycle management efforts
- Identification of operational practices throughout the natural stone industry that maximize performance while minimizing environmental impact
- A comparative life-cycle assessment of five cladding materials, specifically granite, limestone, aluminum composite panels, brick and mortar, and precast concrete
Please click “Results and Publications” to the left to access this information.