Building materials manufacturer James Hardie is Good Environmental Choice Australia’s (GECA) newest licensee. The company recently achieved certification for four products under GECA’s Panel Boards standard: ARChitectural™ Inraw™ and Invibe™ Panel, Versilux and Villaboard® Internal Lining.
“At James Hardie, we pride ourselves on producing good-looking, sustainable, cost-effective and ‘construction-easy’ building materials,” said Anthony Milostic, Technical & Claims Manager (Australasia). “We strive to continually apply materials science knowledge to the development of our products.”
“We obtained GECA’s third-party certification because we believe it is important to show our customers that we take our sustainability commitments seriously. We believe GECA will give them confidence when they use our products,” said Mr Milostic.
“Our Products including the ARChitectural™, Villaboard® and Versilux® ranges of internal linings are designed to provide a tough, impact-resistant substrate for walls of bathrooms, laundries, kitchens and commercial applications.”
GECA CEO Rupert Posner congratulated James Hardie on achieving certification.
“GECA is committed to improving the sustainability of consumption and as a result of James Hardie’s certification more people will be able to make more sustainable choices.”
GECA’s Panel Boards standard seeks to define good environmental performance benchmarks for panel boards throughout their entire life cycle. It aims to encourage and recognise environmental benefits in avoiding hazardous chemicals, conserving resources, minimising waste for landfill, and encouraging the use of environmentally preferable materials.
In Australia approximately 30 per cent by weight of resources disposed of in landfills is construction and demolition waste. A significant proportion of this waste is comprised of panel boards. This standard seeks to minimise the impact of the end use phase through rewarding products that use less material, maximise recyclability, minimise hazardous ingredients/contaminants, and use environmentally preferable materials sourcing.
These James Hardie products, like others certified under GECA’s Panel Boards standard, can contribute towards earning points needed for Green Star certification by the Green Building Council of Australia.
