Low Embodied Carbon Architectural Aluminum Furnished to U.S. Market in Landmark Deal Without Cost Premium
CHICAGO and MUMBAI, India, Oct. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — As millions of Americans in major metropolitan areas awoke in their glassy high-rise apartments, a landmark deal was being signed in an unassuming office in the Lower Parel area of Mumbai, India between Indian producers and Reflection Window and Wall to help ensure tomorrow’s generation of gleaming skyscrapers will be built using low carbon aluminum materials, which are defined as having less than 4 kilograms of carbon (kgCO2e) per one kilogram of aluminum (kgAL). This is a carbon savings of 75%-85% based on current averages from U.S. producers and other aluminum sources from around the globe.
This is a significant development because the number of buildings needed is expected to double by 2060. Forty percent of carbon emissions globally come directly from the construction industry, and the built environment. For example, aluminum extrusions typically emit 15-25 kilograms of carbon into the atmosphere for every kilogram of aluminum produced depending on the source country. Compare that to a typical 50 story high-rise building. It will use 250-thousand square feet of aluminum facade. Each square foot of façade contains approximately 4 pounds of aluminum. This equates to a million or more pounds of aluminum per building. This means 15 million to 25 million pounds of carbon released into the breathable atmosphere to make that aluminum framing now. Thanks to this landmark agreement, and per environmental product declaration provided for this new sustainable aluminum source that 15-25 million pounds of carbon would be reduced to 2.5 million pounds of carbon total for that same building façade; a potential carbon savings of 90% at no cost to the developer or the project!
U.S. based Reflection Window and Wall, LLC, (RWW) Glass Wall Systems India (GWS), and Global Aluminum Private Limited (GAP) of India have come together to create this sea change toward a zero-cost green future with international agreements from primary metals mining, all the way through the value chain to a first-of-its-kind multi-lateral, exclusive agreement combining extruding, finishing, fabrication, and customer delivery to the U.S.
Rodrigo d’Escoto, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, RWW, “If humans were inclined to sacrifice comfort or financial security to do the right thing for each other and the planet, we would have done it already. With this agreement we are achieving massive progress to make the world a cooler place while eliminating the paradox for building developers of choosing between a healthy planet and a healthy bottom line. To that end we have achieved what no one thought possible by partnering with key allies in the largest sister democracy in the world to make these low carbon building materials widely available in the U.S. at zero additional cost to their dirty counterparts on both small retail and large commercial scales. Thanks to this agreement, whether you’re a small contractor replacing windows in a local school, or a major corporation manufacturing facades for a skyscraper; now the best option for your best price is also the best option for our world.”
Anil Agarwal, Founder and Managing Director of GAP gives credit to Jawahar Hemrajani, Director GWS India who hosted the final negotiations and signing at their headquarters with bringing the parties together and for being the glue that binds this new alliance. “When my old friend Jawahar called me and explained Rodrigo’s vision for bringing some of the lowest carbon aluminum in the world to the U.S. at this kind of scale; and at no cost premium to the consumer; I didn’t know how we could possibly do it, but I knew I wanted to be a part of trying to make it happen, and I knew Global Aluminum could help,” said Agarwal.
Hemrajani added, “I have been blessed to find good partners throughout my career, and I’ve learned that nothing meaningful is possible alone. Finding a way together to fulfill Rodrigo’s vision reinforced that truth for me. Everyone knows that technology hasn’t advanced yet to the point where products produced through sustainable energy are truly cost neutral. However, thanks to India’s strong commitment to abundant renewable solar energy we are getting closer. Close enough, that with manageable sacrifices from my partners Anil and Rodrigo, as well as my own, we are now able to close that sustainability cost gap to zero for the U.S. consumer in architectural metals. I know I speak for Anil and Rodrigo that we could not be prouder and more honored to be the first of hopefully many new alliances, in many sectors, that make the simple choice to bridge the cost gap and reverse the global perception that sustainability is a premium luxury, to one that the sustainable option can and should be the best solution for the deal.”
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