NEW YORK— Recognizing that climate change is at a critical juncture, Designtex has cemented its commitment to operate as a carbon-neutral company. The New York-based textile and surface solutions company announced that it has reduced the greenhouse gas footprint of its operations to net zero.
“I am pleased to say that we have reduced or offset 100 percent of the CO2 emissions from all of our facilities,” said Tom Hamilton, president and CEO of Designtex. “In addition, we are offsetting all of Designtex’s business travel, employee commuting, and all product shipments into and out of our warehouse.”
Since the mid-1990s, Designtex has been at the forefront of innovative, sustainable product design. In early 2007, Designtex began a commitment to reduce its corporate footprint with a three-year contract to offset its headquarters’ energy use. The company’s Environmental Strategy department has spent the intervening years implementing internal waste reduction and energy efficiency measures, while researching and analyzing its carbon footprint and potential carbon offset partners.
Designtex Partners with NativeEnergy
In 2009, Designtex enlisted Vermont-based NativeEnergy, a recognized leader in carbon reduction and offset services, to assess its footprint and offer guidance in making on-site reductions and providing verified offsets. NativeEnergy helps finance the construction of high quality Native American, family farm and community-based renewable energy and carbon reduction projects.
“Designtex’s actions to address climate change are impressive,” said Jeff Bernicke, president of NativeEnergy. “They have taken important steps to operate more efficiently, and they are also supporting innovative carbon reduction projects. They provide a powerful example for all companies that are looking to incorporate climate solutions into their operation.”
Designtex’s 2010 footprint of 3,336 tons of CO2 will be directly reduced by an on-site LED lighting retrofit at its headquarters. Designtex partnered with LED Savings Solutions of Devon, Penn., to retrofit its New York City facility with LEDs (light-emitting diodes), which will save 71 percent of the energy used by traditional lighting. Besides their energy efficiency, LEDs last up to 80,000 hours and have higher luminous efficiency.
Designtex’s footprint for 2010 has been further balanced with renewable energy credits (RECs) and two carbon offset projects. The RECs, which offset 1,533,000 kWh of energy, are from U.S.-based wind power and are Green-e certified. The first offset project, the Clinton County Landfill Gas-to-Energy plant in Morrisonville, N.Y., captures the potent greenhouse gas methane from the landfill and converts it to clean power. The second offset project consists of a 10-turbine wind farm that was built in Greensburg, Kansas, a town devastated by one of the worst tornadoes in U.S. history in 2007.
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