Stego Sustainability Report

INDUSTRY DRIVERS Holistic Sustainability in the Built Environment

The built environment — the physical spaces in which we live, work, play, and heal — is in a period of optimistic, transformational change with regard to its impact on our future world. At the front lines of this movement is the design and construction industry — the ecosystem of designers, owners, contractors, and product manufacturers — who collaboratively bring the built environment to life.

Buildings account for roughly 39% of energy-related global CO 2 emissions 1 . The overwhelm ing majority of those emissions come from the operation of these buildings, about 28% of global CO 2 .

The remainder, a still-signifi cant 11%, is from the embodied carbon of building products — the emissions associated with their raw material extraction, manufacturing, transportation, installation, in-service use, and end-of-life.

In addition, the construction and demolition of buildings generates roughly 600 million tons of waste in the United States alone each year 2 . Even more, risks from construction-related and everyday exposures to certain building materials continue to pose a threat to human health.

There appears to be widespread recognition from members of the design and construction community that the built environment can do better. Although there are many paths for reducing the negative impact our industry has on environmental, human, and social health, there is increasing focus and attention on building products. 1 https://www.worldgbc.org/embodied-carbon 2 https://www.epa.gov/smm/sustainable-management-construction-and-demolition-materials

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SUSTAINABILITY REPORT | 2023

OUR IMPACT

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INTRODUCTION

CREATING BETTER SYSTEMS

OUR RESPONSIBILITY