Dow Participates in White House and Private-Sector Commitment to Reduce Greenhouse Gases

October 20, 2015 | By Business Wire News

MIDLAND, Mich.

Last week, the U.S. White House announced a suite of new private-sector commitments and executive actions that will reduce the use and emissions of the greenhouse gases known as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Dow Building Solutions (DBS), a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW), participated by announcing the elimination of higher-global warming potential (GWP) HFCs in its spray foam adhesive product lines.

“DBS aims to maximize economic, environmental and societal value – expanding from its core expertise in building envelope performance and building materials to broader innovation and advocacy for solutions that enhance the well-being of humanity in the built environment,” said Tim Lacey, DBS global business director. “For example, the future conversion of INSTA STIK™ Quick Set Commercial Roofing Adhesive and TILE BOND™ Roof Tile Adhesive product lines to a lower-GWP blowing agent will avoid approximately 200,000 metric tons of CO₂ equivalent per year.”

In alignment with the Company’s commitment to sustainability, DBS is currently evaluating opportunities to improve the sustainability attributes of its products, providing solutions such as lower-GWP blowing agents, evaluating the use of recycled raw materials, and adopting Polymeric Flame Retardant (PolyFR) technology in major geographic regions. Dow’s PolyFR technology is poised to be the next generation industry standard flame retardant for use in both XPS and EPS foam insulation applications globally.

To date, DBS has successfully converted its STYROFOAM™ Extruded Polystyrene (XPS) Foam plants in Japan and Europe to the new PolyFR technology, and is preparing to convert in Canada ahead of 2017 regulations. The business will globally convert STYROFOAM™ XPS plants as soon as it is practically and commercially feasible. This phased approach allows for a controlled conversion process that meets our quality requirements in every region and, at the same time, ensures product availability meeting regulatory demands across regions.

Dow Statement at the White House HFC Roundtable Event

Represented by Mark Weick, director of Dow Sustainability Programs, Dow made the following commitment:

“The Dow Building Solutions business is committed to strategically converting key products ahead of the Administration’s regulatory schedule in order to meet the new environmental standards. Where we have the technologies in place to make the appropriate conversions, we will do so in order to demonstrate our commitment to sustainability and to our customers. As an industry leader in sustainability, we constantly look for solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“Specifically, Dow Building Solutions is reformulating our one component spray foam adhesive product line for the commercial roof adhesive market. In addition, our roof tiling foamed adhesive product will be transitioned to lower-GWP blowing agents over the next 2-3 years. When combined, these actions will avoid approximately 200,000 metric tons of CO₂ equivalent per year.

“These efforts are closely tied to Dow’s 2025 Sustainability Goals, specifically our “Blueprint” goal – which aims to integrate public policy, science, technology and innovation in order to create a more sustainable society. Moving forward, we will continue doing our part by applying our science and technologies to create sustainable solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.”

Dow’s 2025 Sustainability Goals

Innovating more sustainable products is a key part of Dow’s 2025 Sustainability Goals, which were announced earlier this year. These seven goals focus on unlocking the potential of people and science, valuing nature and courageous collaboration to help lead the transition to a more sustainable planet and society by 2025. Specifically, in the “Delivering Breakthrough Innovation” goal, Dow seeks to deliver breakthrough sustainable chemistry innovations that advance the well-being of humanity. To find out more information, please visit www.dow.com/sustainability or check out #Dow2025 on Twitter.

About Dow Building Solutions

Dow Building Solutions serves the residential and commercial building and construction markets with an industry-leading portfolio of products and integrated systems designed to insulate and seal the whole house. Beginning more than 70 years ago with our flagship STYROFOAM™ Brand Extruded Polystyrene (XPS) Foam Insulation, Dow has continued to offer innovative insulation, weatherization and air sealing solutions that work behind the scenes – above grade, below grade – to help builders and contractors deliver more comfortable, durable and affordable homes. www.dowbuildingsolutions.com

About Dow

Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company is driving innovations that extract value from the intersection of chemical, physical and biological sciences to help address many of the world’s most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, clean energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow’s integrated, market-driven, industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 180 countries and in high-growth sectors such as packaging, electronics, water, coatings and agriculture. In 2014, Dow had annual sales of more than $58 billion and employed approximately 53,000 people worldwide. The Company’s more than 6,000 product families are manufactured at 201 sites in 35 countries across the globe. References to “Dow” or the “Company” mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.