Rohm and Haas Hosts Greater Philadelphia Green Business Program

Rohm and Haas President and Chief Operating Officer Pierre Brondeau told a gathering of 32 company representatives, including Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, that "the challenge for business is to make sustainability part of its strategic design, not as an add-on, in order to make a greener Philadelphia, a greener Pennsylvania and indeed a greener America and world.” The event served as the kickoff of the Greater Philadelphia Green Business Commitment Program held at Rohm and Haas’ corporate headquarters in Philadelphia today.

The Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC) in partnership with the PENJERDEL Council is launching a new initiative aimed at committing area businesses to making their buildings and offices "greener” and more sustainable by reducing energy, water and waste, minimizing environmental impacts, and reducing their carbon footprint. All signers of the commitment are required to meet seven Mandatory Measures and at least 20 additional Elective Measures within six months of signing and to be renewed every 12 months. These include a checklist of more than 140 guidelines designed to make buildings and offices more sustainable by adopting recycling, more efficient lighting, tankless hot water, buying low or no-VOC paints, encouraging mass transit or employee car pooling, conserving water by plantings, and other sustainable practices. Companies can qualify as Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum based on the percentage of measures they adopt.

Rohm and Haas Corporate Sustainability Director Dr. Catherine Hunt called the program "a necessary and important step in promoting sustainability among Philadelphia businesses in support of the Mayor’s sustainability program and PEC’s desire to encourage its members to evaluate and modify their business practices and behaviors.” Rohm and Haas Facility Manager Lou Velez, P.E., who has reviewed the checklist, said he expects the company would achieve Silver status and would be working toward Gold. Five years ago Velez retrofitted the 400,000-foot office building with low-mercury content fluorescent lights, installing electronic ballasts that improved light quality, extended lamp life, and reduced energy usage by 1.3 million kilowatt-hours, saving $110,000 a year. In addition, Velez said that although the EPA allows newer low-mercury lamps to be disposed as non-toxic waste, Rohm and Haas has taken the additional step of recycling spent lamps so that none go to landfills. Rohm and Haas put in place a recycling program in 1994 that served as one of the models for the City of Philadelphia’s recycling efforts.

The headquarters building uses some of Rohm and Haas’ own environmentally-advanced products to become more sustainable, including Cool Roof, a white, acrylic-based reflective coating that reduces the amount of heat absorbed by asphalt roofs during the summer months. The same elastomeric coating was used in a community outreach program in Bridesburg, where the company’s Philadelphia plant is located, in cooperation with the Energy Coordinating Agency of Philadelphia. Velez thinks the savings are appreciable, but to quantify exactly what they may be involves a number of changeable variables from one year to the next, such as how hot the summer is or the number of 90-plus degree days and other factors. (EPA Energy Star Cool Roof calculators are available for such estimates at: http://www.roofcalc.com/RoofCalcBuildingInput.aspx).

Rohm and Haas is also a pioneer in low-VOC acrylic emulsions, low-VOC adhesives, formaldehyde-free building insulation and tin-free marine paint, all considered environmentally advanced. The Company won The Natural Step’s sustainability award for its work in applying sustainability principles to its PVC supply chain. The Natural Step is a global non-profit research, education and advisory organization, founded in Sweden by Dr. Karl-Henrik Robert in 1987 to help advance sustainability goals. More information on Rohm and Haas sustainability is available at: go.rohmhaas.com/sustainability.

The company has also provided a major gift to the University of Pennsylvania to create a concentration in sustainable development. It is the first-ever gift from a corporate sponsor to an academic institution to create a program for working professionals focused on the study and implementation of sustainability principles across an organization. The gift will provide funding for three years of course development and marketing that will create a concentration within the Master of Philosophy and Master of Science in Organizational Dynamics degree programs as well as a sustainable-development graduate certificate program. Details of the Penn/Rohm and Haas sustainability partnership can be found at: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/home/news/rohm_haas.html.

More information on the Greater Philadelphia Business "Go Green” program, including a carbon footprint calculator, is available at: www.phillygreenbiz.com.

About Rohm and Haas Company

Leading the way since 1909, Rohm and Haas (NYSE:ROH) is a global pioneer in the creation and development of innovative technologies and solutions for the specialty materials industry. The company’s technologies are found in a wide range of industries including: Building and Construction, Electronics and Electronic Devices, Household Goods and Personal Care, Packaging and Paper, Transportation, Pharmaceutical and Medical, Water, Food and Food Related, and Industrial Process. Innovative Rohm and Haas technologies and solutions help to improve life every day, around the world. Based in Philadelphia, Pa., the company generated annual sales of approximately $9.6 billion in 2008. Visit www.rohmhaas.com for more information. Imagine the possibilities™