Sustainability Profile: PFB Corporation

1. What is your company's brand promise, vision or statement of values, and how does it relate to sustainability?

PFB, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries (Plasti-Fab, Advantage ICF Systems, Insulspan, and Riverbend Timber Framing), is a vertically-integrated manufacturer of proprietary insulating building products based on expanded polystyrene (EPS) technology. Our products are manufactured in 10 facilities in Canada and in two facilities in Michigan, USA. We distribute our products to industrial, commercial and residential customers, and to the retail market.

The PFB product offering represents "Better Building Ideas" because our brands, when used alone or more effectively integrated together as building systems, provide excellent insulating qualities in a cost effective way that reduce energy consumption in the heating and cooling of buildings in which they are incorporated.

PFB supports environmental sustainability in two ways: by manufacturing products that assist our customers in improving the operational energy efficiency of buildings, and by recognizing our responsibilities in reducing our own carbon emissions and waste in our operations. We remain committed to social sustainability by emphasizing safety and teamwork throughout the organization. We believe that it is our obligation to each individual to provide them with a safe work environment, and the necessary training and experience to enable them to achieve their full potential for the mutual benefit of the employee and the Corporation. All our products coupled with our policy to pursue sustainable development goals in all our activities, will provide social, economic and environmental benefits to all our stakeholders.

For more information about our corporate objectives as they relate to sustainability, please visit us online at: http://www.pfbsustainability.com/objectives.html
2. How are your products or services environmentally and socially sustainable?

At PFB Corporation, we are concerned with the future of the planet and the effects that modern life styles may be having on climate change. We are committed to conducting our operations responsibly, mindful of their economic, environmental and social impacts. We have always placed environmental protection at the highest level of importance in our products, our processes and our practices.

Plasti-Fab has developed a certification listing under Environment Canada's Environmental Choice Program (ECP). Plasti-Fab recognizes that our products are key components in creating an energy efficient building envelope. See our listings under ECP as emphasizing our commitment to environmental responsibility in the manufacture and use of our products.

Carbon dioxide, the principal green house gas, emitted by PFB is from the burning of natural gas and other fuels used in our production facilities. Our insulating products provide our customers with the means to reduce their energy consumption and consequently their energy requirements and green house gas emissions. PFB customers experience a large reduction in GHG emissions when using our products due to reduced fuel consumption. The reduction is much larger than PFB emissions when manufacturing the product.

We are active in our communities. To ensure the appropriate use of our products we provide on-site technical advisory services and product knowledge training to our customers. We provide professional instruction courses for credit with Architectural AIA, as well as ICF University and SIP School for builders, and Home Planning Seminars for consumers.

In 2008 we published our first sustainability report to present our initial baseline performance from measurements recorded in 2006 and 2007. It is our intention to improve our performance related to conversion of inputs, such as materials, energy, and water; into outputs, such as products, emissions, effluents and waste. We will expand disclosure over time and measure our efforts against this baseline to increase transparency and accountability for continuous improvement.
3. How does your company assess and work with suppliers who create positive social and environmental benefits (either through their products or through their community partnerships)?

Our supply chain links are with major corporations that support the Responsible Care® Initiative. At the interface with them, our operating practices are subject to audit by them, which helps the industry to operate safely, profitably and with care for future generations.

Responsible Care® is the chemical industry's global voluntary initiative under which companies, through their national associations, work together to continuously improve their health, safety and environmental performance, and to communicate with stakeholders about their products and processes.

The Responsible Care® ethic helps our industry to operate safely, profitably and with due care for future generations, and was commended by UNEP as making a significant contribution to sustainable development at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002.

For further detail on the criteria by which we evaluate our suppliers, please view the Responsible Care Charter online at: http://www.responsiblecare.org/flashpresenation.html.
4. How does your business minimize the environmental impact of its operations?

We have published the following objectives for 2009 – 2010:
1. Reduce waste to landfill
Landfill waste is a growing concern and PFB is working towards reducing our impact. We are working on detailed characterization of our waste stream and implementation of reduction and recycling strategies.

PFB strives towards improving our conversion efficiency to reduce our impact on resource usage and generation of waste products.
2. Reduce energy consumption
PFB continues to upgrade equipment and improve our processes in an effort to reduce consumption of fossil fuels. Although we experienced an increase in direct energy in 2007 over 2006 this was offset by a decrease of indirect energy and now forms a baseline for us to improve. Our objective in 2008 is to maintain energy usage per unit production. We are conducting energy audits to determine opportunities for improvement and improving the efficiency of our equipment and buildings.
3. Reduce emissions to atmosphere
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a concern in the manufacture of polystyrene products and research is underway by our technical center to develop a raw material that uses less VOC. We have been increasing our usage of resins with reduced pentane content and have begun to collect pentane in our plants and destroy it in a closed loop system rather than releasing VOCs into the environment. We are working with our partner BASF who is an industry leader in this cradle to cradle life cycle analysis.

Additionally, the following practices have been established for a number of years now:
• paper products – recycling bins are available at each office
• administrative supplies – electronics recycling with appropriate local organizations are in place
• staff commuting – our server-based computing environment allows for remote access for a large majority of office employees
• Central Server Farm – the IT group utilizes virtualization technology to reduce energy consumption; virtualization allows a number of virtual servers to run on a single host machine.
5. How does your business demonstrate ethical business conduct?


• An Audit Committee comprised of members of the PFB Board of Directors is mandated to provide oversight.
• Policies and procedures for reporting breaches of business conduct and ethics are posted on all company notice boards and available through our Intranet site. The investigation of all reported complaints is the responsibility of the Chairman of the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors. In an effort to offer our employees complete anonymity and confidentiality, PFB Corporation has retained Global Corporate Compliance Inc. to provide independent reporting.
• A formal Policy Manual, which includes a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics is in place and adhered to by all directors, officers and employees.
6. What strategic community partnerships does your company have in place?

We support numerous industry trade associations and expect our employees to participate in them including:
• Expanded Polystyrene Manufacturers Association (EPSMA)
• Structural Insulated Panel Association (SIPA)
• American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)
• Construction Specifications Canada
• Local Home Builders Associations
• Local Built Green programs
• Regional building supply associations
• Regional roofing associations
We are active in our communities. To ensure the appropriate use of our products we provide on-site technical advisory services and product knowledge training to our customers. We provide professional instruction courses for credit with Architectural AIA, as well as Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) University and SIP School for builders, and Home Planning Seminars for consumers.

Habitat for Humanity Owen Sound
PFB Corporation participated in a Habitat for Humanity project located in Owen Sound, Ontario where twenty Grey-Bruce students helped build housing as part of a fast-tracked carpentry apprenticeship pilot program at Georgian College. Three duplex dwellings were built. All the exterior walls and adjoining walls of the three duplexes were made of the Advantage ICF System which, when filled with concrete provided a solid concrete building enclosure. Using the Advantage ICF System for the walls of this project will reduce heating and cooling operating costs from conventional construction.

Okanagan Home for Learning Project
PFB is proud to be a sponsor of the 2007 South Okanagan Home for Learning Project, where we supplied PlastiSpan under slab insulation and Advantage ICF System. The Home for Learning project provided college students the opportunity to expand their skills and their knowledge of energy efficient building systems. This home is Built Green certified and meets federal R-2000 and EnerGuide ratings. The project won several provincial Environmental Awards. Skilled building professionals, with knowledge of new insulation solutions, are in very high demand. PFB is pleased to help the students of the Okanagan College Trades and Apprenticeship Programs improve their skills and enhance their marketability.

Burnside House
Michigan's first platinum-level LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) award has been awarded to "Burnside's Inn," a home designed by Riverbend Timber Framing, in Blissfield, MI, and built by Robert Burnside's Fireside Home Construction company. The LEED Green Building Rating System, nationally recognized benchmark for high-performance green buildings, bases its certifications on sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

PFB involvement in recent LEED projects
PFB believes that our Better Building Ideas products, when used in the construction of the building envelope, are an enabling technology that supports the certification of LEED designed buildings and Net Zero Energy houses. We have been involved in a number of LEED projects across North America which are outlined in more detail on our websites. Please visit www.PFBCorp.com for more information.

Net Zero Energy (NZE) Home
Two noteworthy research and demonstration projects in which PFB participated by providing Insulspan SIPS panels, are to the BASF NZE Demonstration House in Patterson, New Jersey and to a Habitat for Humanity research project at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. The objective for a NZE house is to balance, over a year time horizon, the generation of energy by the structure with consumption of energy in the structure. The energy efficiency of PFB products makes them enabling technologies in NZE building construction.
7. What policy or guidelines exist to support charitable contributions?

PFB Corporation has been actively involved with several charitable organizations. A recent partnership has formed with The Holmes Foundation. Having worked with Mike Holmes on an episode of his show, we had a chance to see firsthand how passionate he is about the industry. This was a natural fit because his concern for well-trained tradesmen supports our jobsite training initiatives. PFB donated a percentage of our sales from a local trade show to the Holmes Foundation. PFB has been a participant of the annual United Way campaign for many years.
8. How many people do you employ locally?

128 employees in Alberta (Calgary and Crossfield) and 400 total across North America.
9. In what ways does your business demonstrate its commitment to employee health and safety?


• All employees receive health and safety orientation, safety manual and extensive training when they commence employment and throughout their career with PFB. PFB is committed to ensuring that all employees are properly trained to complete each and every task in a safe and timely manner.
• Health and Safety Committees comprised of hourly, salaried and management representatives meet regularly to review results and develop improvements in safe work procedures in each branch.
• Executive management and other leaders throughout the company are all focused in making lasting improvements to our safety records.
10. In what ways does your business demonstrate its commitment to employee development and job satisfaction?


• PFB offers an educational reimbursement program for employees to support individual education and development.
• Training employees is a key component in enhancing our future success in delivering our brand promise and generating results aligned with our sustainability focus. We offer competency-based training and development opportunities anchored to individual developmental goals coupled with job profiles, career progression and performance management processes.
• Employees receive a comprehensive and competitive benefit package paid by the company.
11. How does your business support employees to lead balanced lives and be active participants in their communities?

There are no formal or organized efforts in place currently. However, our HR Manager is working towards a multi-faceted road map that includes employee development, training, and work/life balance.