Living Product Challenge
Industrial Louvers is very proud to have earned Petal certification for our custom aluminum sunshades with Fluropon Pure 70% PVDF finish. We earned petals for Place, Water, Health & Happiness, Materials, Equity and Beauty and achieved 18 of 20 imperatives.
Although, we did not achieve the Energy imperative, we have set goals to incorporate photovoltaic panels to help offset the energy consumption of our facility.
Place – The intent of the Place Petal is to influence in positive ways how people related to the natural environment that sustains us. For this petal, the manufacturing must not diminish habitat quality and the capacity for life to regenerate. ILI’s facility is not located on a greenfield, and our facility expansion is being designed and built to minimize the impact to our site and maximize our employee’s connection with the natural world. We have also invested in restoring habitat through a major donation to the Nature Conservancy.
Water – The intent of the Water Petal is to realign how manufacturers use water and redefine waste in the manufacturing environment so that water is respected as a natural resource. Although only 1.06% of the water used to make ILI’s painted sunshades happens on our site, they still save more water in their life cycle than they use. In other words, their handprint is larger than their footprint. To further create a net positive life cycle, ILI is implementing a rain water catchment and reuse system.
Health & Happiness – The intent of the Health & Happiness Petal is to focus on the most important conditions that must be present to create products and materials that truly benefit consumers, workers and the communities in which products are produced. ILI has designed a facility that provides daylight and connection with nature for all employees. We have phased out the many harmful chemicals generally found in manufacturing facilities like ours and continue to evaluate the materials we use to ensure maximum worker and user safety.
Materials – The intent of the Materials Petal is to help create a materials economy that is healthy, ecologically restorative, transparent and socially equitable. We published our Declare labels in 2016 and eliminated red list chemicals from our products. We source most of our products locally and have implemented policies to support sustainable and red-list free packaging. Although our products are meant for permanent installation, we provide resources for finding recyclers if the product is removed from a building or the building is demolished.
Equity – The intent of the Equity Petal is to create consumer and industrial goods that allow equitable access and treatment to all people regardless of physical abilities, race, gender, sexual orientation, age or socioeconomic status. Although our products are not generally used in residential applications, we support efforts to provide safe, non-toxic materials to the affordable housing market through our support of the Healthy Affordable Products Project. Lisa Britton, our Director of Sales & Marketing/Sustainability Champion serves on the organization’s advisory committee. We demonstrate our responsibility through responsible co-products and support charitable organizations through direct contributions, our employee charitable giving program and volunteerism. We were the first manufacturer to earn the Just label.
Beauty – The Beauty Petal requires that products contain design features intended solely for human delight and the celebration of culture and spirit appropriate to its function. The product must be artfully designed and pleasing to use. In the natural world, people seek out the shade of trees for a break from the sun’s glare and heat. In the shade of a tree, one can relax and enjoy the benefits of the natural beauty of the outdoors, while remaining comfortable. Sunshades provide the same protection for building occupants. We surveyed the A&D community to confirm that we meet that goal and solicit ideas for how we can further incorporate beauty into our products.
ILI is excited with what we have achieved and what we have learned about how we can make further improvements in our products and operations. For a full case study, please visit ILFI’s Living Product Challenge case studies page located here: [link not available yet]
