Boston—Shaw Industries Group partnered with the CDC, City and County of San Francisco, Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, Ecoworks Studio, GIGA, HDR and McDonough Innovation to bring fresh thinking and continuing education opportunities to Greenbuild attendees during the annual conference and expo held the week of Nov. 6 here.
“Greenbuild is focused on transforming the market and changing the way people all over the world experience buildings,” said Paul Murray, vice president of sustainability and environmental affairs at Shaw. “It’s a forum that provides us with the opportunity to collaborate with customers and partners to provide insights and education as we all strive to have an even more positive impact in the world.”
At this year’s Greenbuild, Shaw provided five Education Lab sessions and hosted a session with renowned architect and visionary William McDonough in addition to being part of the Cradle to Cradle “Built Positive” day-long pre-session.
Shaw Education Lab sessions included:
- Cradle to Cradle Products—Currency in the Circular Economy: Explored growing sustainability concepts in the built environment including circular economy, buildings as material banks, material passports, health, wellness and Cradle to Cradle design.
- The Great Indoors—Creating Safe, Sustainable Environments: Showcased an innovative project undertaken with the city of San Francisco to create the great indoors told from the point of view of the city, an architect/designer and a manufacturer.
- Designing for Human Health—Cradle to Cradle and WELL: Discussed how the built environment affects human health and how Cradle to Cradle product design can help meet the growing demand for health-conscious design.
- Transparency—Tools & Tribulations: Delved into how to cut through the complexity of LEED v4 Building Product Disclosure & Optimization credits, reducing research time and associated costs, including tools developed to help simplify the complexity and facilitate the selection of products that help create beautiful, sustainable environments.
- Special Session with William McDonough “A Walk in the Garden, An Essay of Clues & The Butterfly Effect”: A look at McDonough’s extensive work to do more good, including collaboration with Shaw Contract and Patcraft to design beautiful, sustainable products with safe ingredients that can be perpetually cycled and were manufactured with respect for humans and the environment.
These insightful presentations and related continuing education opportunities are available from Shaw throughout the year.
These efforts are in keeping with Shaw’s long-held commitment to education and training that are at the heart of the company’s focus on innovation. Shaw provides more than 1 million training hours to its associates each year and offers extensive customer education opportunities.
“Our success and customers’ success is inextricably linked,” Murray notes. “By constantly looking for what’s next and keeping a pulse on the perpetually shifts in the market, we are able to not only provide the best products and services to our customers but to help them advance their business goals as well.”