At Armstrong, we recognize the inherent connection between the built environment our products help create and our natural world. By limiting the environmental impact of our products and fostering healthier spaces at each stage of development and installation, we’re making positive contributions to the future of healthy, sustainable spaces like offices, classrooms, airports, healthcare facilities and data centers. Through our SUSTAIN® product line, we offer the largest forward-thinking portfolio of healthy ceiling and wall solutions with verified material transparency and disclosure of embodied carbon. We’re also committed to expanding material and embodied carbon transparency across all our products to set a new standard of trust and accountability within our industry..
Reducing Operational and Embodied Carbon
Armstrong recognizes the building industry’s impact on the environment—and the potential outcome for our communities. To ensure a healthy future, Armstrong is embracing carbon reduction as an end-to-end solution that touches every stage of the building lifecycle, from design and material selection to operational efficiency and end-of-life management. To read more on our work to reduce carbon through our value chain, click here
Designing and Testing
Our design and testing processes are focused on the health and safety aspects of our products, as well as optimizing sustainability starting with the design phase and carried through end-of-life. All our new products, including those manufactured by authorized third-party vendors, undergo a comprehensive Product Safety Design Review Process that covers a multiphase screening for safety attributes, including chemical content, seismic and fire performance and compliance with indoor air quality standards. We regularly review the latest regulatory guidance to monitor ongoing compliance with local and global regulations regarding safety and chemicals of concern.
We work to ensure safe use of our products across the value chain. Builders and contractors using our products must follow mandatory guidance on safe and effective installation in order to maintain our warranties, and we actively solicit feedback on our products through mock-ups and test installations from our customers, including annual audits with contractors.
How We Govern Product Stewardship at Armstrong
We govern product stewardship through a number of councils, committees and departments, explained in the diagram below.
Eliminating Chemicals of Concern
The building products industry has made strides in recent years to remove and reduce the use of harmful chemicals that pose both health and environmental risks. To reach our goal of eliminating chemicals of concern in our products by 2030, we take a holistic approach to researching chemicals and finding safer alternatives when needed. Our commitment must be ongoing. As we innovate new products and acquire new capabilities through acquisitions and partnerships, we apply our same screening and transparency process in the design of new products. We work closely with our suppliers and partners to reduce exposure and minimize environmental impacts.
SUSTAIN®
In 2017, we launched SUSTAIN®, the industry’s largest portfolio of high-performing, sustainable ceiling and wall solutions. We can identify material composition to the 100 parts per million (ppm) level for our SUSTAIN® products, which are free of LBC Red List chemicals, and meet the most stringent health and environmental standards. As of 2022, 79% of our Mineral Fiber products were free of chemicals of concern. More information on SUSTAIN® mineral fiber, fiberglass, metal and felt ceilings can be found here.