PPG corporate sustainability report highlights green building products and manufacturing

In the green construction arena, PPG architectural glasses, including Solarban solar control, low-e glasses, are the first product in their industry to be Cradle to Cradle Certified. Many PPG paints, including Pittsburgh Paints’ Pure Performance paint are Ecologo certified or CHPS-compliant as a low-emitting material, and Duranar ULTRA-Cool coatings are Energy Star and Cool Roof Rating Council (CRRC) listed.PPG’s corporate sustainability report supports products claims and certifications in that, as a manufacturer, PPG is responsible, transparent, and realizes necessary improvements to meet challenging sustainablility demands. For instance, PPG was the first company to install oxy-fuel furnance technology on a float glass production line in North America, which can dramatically reduce the amount of natural gas required to melt glass.The company also integrated dispense cell technology to facilitate the production of small batches of liquid coatings, eliminating the need for cleaning solvents, cutting hazardous waste and reducing customer inventories by permitting more accurate order fulfillment.In the paint industry, PPG was the first national supplier to institute a program to recover and recycle plastic five-gallon pails used for water-based paints. In addition to its environmental benefits, this program reduces customer cost by eliminating the need for empty-pail disposal.The 32-page sustainability report, posted at www.ppg.com/2008CSR, is self-declared to meet the G3 Application Level C requirements for the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), a disclosure framework for corporate sustainability information. In addition to outlining PPG’s vision, values, ethics and corporate governance, the report provides information on the company’s recent business performance, global philanthropic activities and metrics such as greenhouse gas emissions, energy usage and safety statistics.About PPGPittsburgh-based PPG is a global supplier of paints, coatings, optical products, specialty materials, chemicals, glass and fiber glass.The company has more than 140 manufacturing facilities and equity affiliates and operates in more than 60 countries. Sales in 2008 were $15.8 billion. PPG shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: PPG). For more information, visit www.ppg.com.