James Hardie chief sustainability officer Jill Kolling explains how the fiber cement maker is cutting both operational and embodied carbon, with a 42% emissions reduction target by 2030, zero waste to landfill by 2035, and an R&D roadmap for lower-carbon cement. She also covers the company's environmental product declarations and how siding and trim are formulated by climate zone for durability, fire resistance, and resilience.
00:00:01:16 - 00:00:18:17
Sara Gutterman: I'm here today with Jill Colling, chief sustainability officer for James Hardie. The building industry is decarbonizing across the entire value chain, from low carbon products to reduce emissions manufacturing processes. How is James Hardie participating in this transformation?
00:00:18:18 - 00:00:44:28
Jill Kolling: A number of different ways. So we've got an ambitious sustainability strategy that looks one at our own operations. Right. So we've got greenhouse gas emission goals aligned with the Paris accord to reduce emissions in our own operations by 42% by 2030, and then to send zero waste to landfill by 2035 from any. So that's kind of our own house.
00:00:44:28 - 00:01:13:03
Jill Kolling: But then we also know that architects and builders are looking at embodied carbon within our product. So we also have a R\&D roadmap that is working on reducing the carbon footprint of our product. And for us, we sell siding and trim exterior products. And one of the raw materials is cement. As we know, that has a high carbon footprint.
00:01:13:03 - 00:01:40:10
Jill Kolling: So our R\&D team has a low carbon technology cement roadmap we're looking at that will also help us reduce that carbon, our product. The interesting thing is that cement brings incredible durability performance to the product. Right. So we're working on this. But in tandem the solutions also have to maintain the performance that are that are homeowners expect.
00:01:40:11 - 00:01:46:00
Sara Gutterman: Can you talk a little bit more about that roadmap and then what that low carbon concrete product might look like.
00:01:46:01 - 00:02:12:24
Jill Kolling: There's a lot of stuff happening. There's startups all over the place looking at alternatives to cement. So it's kind of a fast moving space because it is such a large percentage of the built environment. Right. Looking at that. So for us we're looking at things like there's lower cement, lower carbon cement on the market today and coming on the market right where cement manufacturers are looking at reducing the amount of clinker.
00:02:12:27 - 00:02:32:29
Jill Kolling: Looking at other additives that bring down that footprint a bit so that can be part of it. There may also be alternative binders to cement, right? Like like I said, all this innovation happening. So who knows, someday there could be something other than cement that performs the same or better, that could be used as that binder in our product.
00:02:33:06 - 00:02:55:07
Jill Kolling: And, you know, we're we're working with universities trying to keep an eye like partnering and looking at what's happening in the landscape and that, you know, even our product was cement in it on the wall of your home. It absorbs carbon and holds it. Right. So there is this carbon sink aspect of it, right, that we're looking at as well.
00:02:55:10 - 00:03:20:18
Sara Gutterman: The meticulous specification of low carbon products is essential if we're going to reach a net zero carbon built environment and environmental product declarations, or will play a pivotal role in that transition. And I know that James Hardie has some products with that you're offering. So can you talk a little bit more about your ePDM and what makes them special, and why building professionals and consumers should pay attention to them?
00:03:20:19 - 00:03:42:16
Jill Kolling: We have ITVs covering more than 90% of our product revenue, so the products we sell revenue wise are covered. Long time user of them in Europe, right, where they've kind of been ahead of us in North America and the expectations around them also in the Asia-Pacific region. And so in the past couple of years, have them covering our North American products as well.
00:03:42:23 - 00:04:06:23
Jill Kolling: So, you know, they are verified by a third party. And there's a standard for them. We believe it's important to tell the full story. So our EPs will go from cradle to grave. Right. So you can see that full lifecycle of the product and have that full transparency to compare to other product. Not only does it help architects and users of our products, but these frankly help us, right?
00:04:06:24 - 00:04:14:16
Jill Kolling: We have a good understanding of where the impacts are through the whole life cycle, and what we can work on and influence to bring that down.
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Sara Gutterman: Talk a little bit more about how James Hardie's products and siting enhances the resiliency of homes.
00:04:21:04 - 00:04:52:04
Jill Kolling: Our siding and trim is engineered for climate. There's a couple things. So it has these incredible durability and resilience properties to stand up to the harshest weather events. It's also noncombustible, and we're seeing that becoming more and more important as wildfires, right, are increasing across the globe, really with more extreme climate of ends. So it's protection on your home in these extreme climate events, right, that that people are seeing.
00:04:52:11 - 00:05:27:20
Jill Kolling: Also, we formulate the product specific to your climate zone, right. So if you're in Texas, you'll get our H z10 product, which can stand up to, you know, brutal heat and humidity, blistering sun and storms. If you're in Minneapolis, Minnesota, you'll get the HC five product, which can withstand the freezing cold winters and the freeze thaw. So we've engineered our products for climate and that in the built environment, sustainability is durability, right?
00:05:27:21 - 00:05:30:18
Jill Kolling: It's so important to not have to be replacing that.