Green Environment

You may not realize it, but building green begins long before products are ready for installation on your home. It begins with a strong commitment to "source reduction" by the manufacturer. This means that all aspects of production are designed to help reduce the volume and environmental impact of waste, while also achieving optimum material use to create products with a longer service life. At Gentek, we strongly promote best practices for environmental stewardship and proudly offer a wide variety of eco-friendly vinyl, steel and aluminum products.

Gentek Vinyl Windows and Patio Doors

Expertly crafted for a weathertight fit, Gentek windows and patio doors deliver outstanding energy efficiency to help reduce fuel consumption needed to heat and cool homes. For even greater energy savings, Gentek windows are also available with ENERGY STAR® qualified glass packages for maximum thermal performance and year-round energy conservation.

We also recycle virtually all in-plant vinyl scrap into other useful products, further reducing the volume and environmental impact of waste. And because vinyl never needs to be painted, it helps eliminate paint, stain and other maintenance-related products from entering the waste stream or releasing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the atmosphere. Vinyl windows and patio doors are eco-friendly because vinyl resin is derived largely from common salt - a sustainable and abundant natural resource.

• Reduce electricity usage. For example, a study conducted by Franklin Associates found that using vinyl over alternative framing options saves the U.S. nearly two trillion BTUs of energy per year - enough to meet the yearly electrical needs of 20,000 single-family homes.
• Are so durable that the vast majority of them installed over the past 25 years are still in use. At the end of their useful life - like all vinyl - they can be recycled.¹
• More than eight million pounds of window profile waste is diverted from landfills annually thanks to successful buy-back programs initiated by window companies like Gentek.¹
• Vinyl can be reprocessed and recycled repeatedly. Scrap is routinely recycled into other vinyl products. In fact, 99% of the vinyl used by processors goes into a finished product.¹

Gentek Vinyl Siding

Gentek vinyl siding is performance-engineered to ensure premium product quality and a long service life. Vinyl siding also helps conserve wood and other natural resources often used in home construction, and because it never needs refinishing, it eliminates the need for paint, stain, and other annual maintenance-related products that can have a cumulative, negative effect on the environment. It also saves the energy and resources required to manufacture and dispose of these materials.

Gentek vinyl siding installed with an insulating underlayment can achieve higher R-values to help keep homes warmer in winter and cooler in summer with greater thermal efficiency - a top priority for today's homeowners!

• Is friendlier to the environment than brick, stucco and fiber cement in terms of air pollution caused by production, fossil fuel consumption and global warming impact.²
• Is eco-friendly because vinyl resin is derived largely from common salt - a sustainable and abundant natural resource.
• Can contribute to achieving points in leading green building certification programs; insulated vinyl siding may help earn significantly more points.
• Is a durable product that's engineered to last a "lifetime" on the home.*

Gentek Steel Siding

Built to shield your home from even the most punishing weather, Gentek steel siding also promotes energy conservation by creating a tight building envelope for more efficient heating and cooling performance year-round.

In terms of strength and stability, steel offers many advantages for residential building - and has long been North America's most recycled material.³ The uncompromising endurance of this heavy-gauge siding promises exceptional beauty and lasting protection for your home.

• Helps take the pressure off renewable resources. A typical 2,000-sq.-ft. home requires approximately 40 to 50 trees (about an acre's worth) to build with wood. With steel, only the equivalent of six scrapped automobiles is needed.⁴
• Is completely recyclable! Approximately 88% of all steel products are recycled into new steel products at the end of their useful life.⁵
• Can contribute toward achieving points in leading green building certification programs.

Gentek Aluminum Siding, Soffit and Trim Coil

Did you know that at the end of their long useful life, Gentek aluminum siding products are 100% recyclable6 and can be reprocessed into similar products with no loss of quality? Eco-friendly aluminum siding, soffit, and trim coil further help the environment because they never need to be repainted, thereby reducing the amount of paint and other maintenance-related substances entering the waste stream.

• Is a light-weight material, which allows for more fuel-efficient transportation.
• Can usually be recycled in a single process using up to 95% less energy than the primary production process.⁶
• Is produced from material that is at least 90% recycled aluminum. Using recycled aluminum instead of raw materials reduces the generation of air pollution such as carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrous oxide by 95% and water pollution by 97%.⁶

INDUSTRY LINKS
www.vinylinfo.org
www.vinylsiding.org
www.aamanet.org
www.energystar.gov
www.recycle-steel.org/cgi-bin/sridbq3.pl

• Siding with the Environment Fact Sheet (VSI)
• A Dozen Things You Might Not Know That Make Vinyl Siding Green Handout (VSI)
• Sustainability White Paper (VSI)
• Case Study: Building Green with Insulated Vinyl Siding (VSI)
• Vinyl Siding Contributes to Achieving Points in the National Green Building StandardT (VSI)
• A Clear View: Vinyl Windows and the Environment
• A Dozen Things You Might Not Know That Make Vinyl Siding Green Presentation (VSI)