Carbon Offset Program
Dow® has announced the plans for 2022 to launch the world’s first commercially available carbon-neutrality program for silicone materials used for structural glazing, insulating glass, and weathersealing. Selected DOWSIL™ Materials will include PAS 2060-certified carbon certificates from Dow’s backward integrated siloxane productions and carbon reduction investments. This carbon offset program can help to decrease the environmental impact of buildings and achieve better green building certification ratings.
According to the World Green Building Council, the building sector is responsible for approximately 39% of global CO2 emissions. This includes both embodied carbon and building operations. While the production of Dow’s silicon products requires energy, the use of these products requires very low energy in applications such as prefabricated façade elements and glass insulation, helping to significantly improve the energy efficiency of buildings. In addition, their proven durability allows the insulated building envelope to last more than 50 years. The energy or carbon ratio for silicone sealants conserves up to 20 times more energy than what is needed to produce them for insulated glass, according to the Global Silicones Council.
Carbon-neutral silicones can reduce to net zero the carbon needed to produce the silicone polymers that are the building blocks of our products. Carbon-neutral silicones for specific building projects is a revolutionary offering, especially for technologies linked to the silicon metal manufacturing process, where Dow is uniquely positioned.
Backed with PAS 2060 certification, internationally recognized for organizational carbon-neutrality, Dow’s carbon-neutral silicones will be able to contribute to additional international green building certification points. Each product will have an Environmental Product Declaration that communicates transparent and comparable information about the life cycle environmental impact of our products. In addition to carbon neutral silicones, Dow continues to develop innovative and sustainable solutions for the building and infrastructure markets.
