Stone “Best Practices” Defined

The study included 42 North American companies responding with data for 64 quarries and 45 processing facilities. The results represent companies with more than 16-million cubic feet of net quarried stone, and nearly six million cubic feet of net stone produced by fabricators.
The largest sectors to respond involved granite and limestone sectors, the dominant players in U.S. stone production. Sandstone and marble – and, to a small extent slate and travertine – comprise the remainder of the reports.
The survey yielded enough results to construct an initial life-cycle inventory for granite, limestone, and sandstone quarries in the near future. (Data is still being collected to do the same for marble.) The first versions of these data sets are in final draft stages, and will be available on the Genuine Stone Website this fall.
Survey responses revealed that water-consumption efficiency will be key for the industry’s sustainability profile, due to increasing global water shortages. The water issues, along with site maintenance and quarry closure, are identified as topics for best-practice briefs.
In processing, the diversity in the transportation distance of stone needs to be addressed. Water consumption will also be a significant topic in discussions about sustainability.
Survey responses indicate that water reclamation is one of the industry’s best practices. It’ll be the topic of the NSC’s first best-practice brief set for distribution early next month.
The NSC will continue to work with the Center for Clean Products at the University of Tennessee (UT) to perform a life-cycle analysis of the environmental impacts of certain stone products, identify strategic sustainability goals for the industry, and continue outreach efforts to the environmental and Green Building communities through vehicles such as best practices, case studies, and material fact sheets.
“We are encouraged by the initial results of this comprehensive research,” said John Mattke, co-chair of the NSC and chairman of the NSC’s Committee on Sustainability. “With solid data behind us, we may now move forward to highlight our industry’s best practices, as well as work together to improve those areas that will solidify natural stone’s position as a sustainable building product.”
Formed in 2003, the Hollis, N.H.-based NSC is a collaboration of businesses and trade associations to promote the understanding of, preference for, and consumption of stone sold under the Genuine Stone™ brand.