Green Initiatives | Environments: built and protected here
Manufacturing
Recycled Byproducts
We’ve arranged to have everything from plexi glass and metal scraps to sawdust collected and recycled instead of heaped on top of landfills. Together this trio constitutes about 85% of our manufacturing waste.
FSC-Certified Formica Laminates
Forest Stewardship Council certification is an official recognition of a forest’s sustainability when used for raw materials. We source all of our Formica laminate from suppliers who fully comply with FSC standards.
Low VOC Adhesives
Volatile Organic Compounds are toxic gasses that are emitted from a wide range of solids and liquids commonly found in both commercial and residential environments. We take deliberate steps to reduce our contribution to VOC emissions by only using adhesives treated to emit significantly less.
CARB-II Certified Hardwood Plywood, Particleboard, Melamine, and MDF
Regardless of what we’re building or how big we’re building it, we never cut corners when it comes to our basest material: wood. That’s why every single piece we use is completely free of formaldehyde—whether it’s naturally cut maple or birch, or recycled and reformed Medium-Density Fiberboard.
LED Lighting
Our designers, graphics specialists, purchasing agents, engineers, and craftsmen all love Light-Emitting Diode area and accent illumination. Its effects are crisp, its physical footprint is small, and best of all its energy efficiency blows away alternative technologies. We use LEDS whenever we can in whatever we can.
Water-based Graphic Inks
Environmentally friendly water-based inks are clean and harmless compared to their solvent-based alternatives. We use water-based inks in the production of all posters, adhesive vinyl, and backlit imaging.
Our Operations
USGBC & LEED-educated Employees
We sponsor certain members of our specialist teams to become trained and educated in US Green Building Council construction standards. These employees then run periodic seminars to educate the rest of our staff so that everyone who plays a role in the development of our products is able to take active steps to minimize the impact of our work on the environment.
Natural Gas Heating
Heating across every one of our combined 200,000ft² of New York-based facilities is achieved through natural gas only. Clean-burning natural gas emits nearly 30% less carbon dioxide, 64% fewer nitrogen oxides, and nearly 100% less sulfur dioxide than standard heating oil. Unlike oil, burning natural gas produces no mercury whatsoever.¹
¹ Source: EIA – Natural Gas Issues and Trends 1998
High Efficiency Lighting
Throughout both of our New York manufacturing and storage facilities, ultra-efficient T-5 high output fluorescent fixtures create all artificial light. They’re so efficient in fact that while they replaced our original lights one-for-one, at any given time of day or night, only half of our T-5s ever need to be on in order to create an environment even brighter than before.
More
Whether it’s buying partially recycled printer and copier paper, reusing ink and toner cartridges, or recycling electronic devices, Gilbert Displays is always looking for new ways to minimize its impact on the environment.