This course highlights how the dimension stone sustainability standard (ANSI/NSC 373) can assist projects with sustainability goals. The standard examines and verifies through a third party, numerous areas of stone production such as: water usage, custody and transportation, site and plant management, land reclamation, corporate governance, energy, waste, chemicals, worker health and safety and innovation credits. It also includes a companion Chain of Custody (COC) program, which ensures traceability of certified stone from the quarry to processing and throughout the supply chain and ultimately to their journeys end.

After reading this article, you should be able to:

• Interpret how compliance to the Natural Dimension Stone sustainability standards environmental, ecological, human health and social responsibility requirements for stone quarrying and production satisfy the growing demand for products that exhibit high performance in Life Cycle Assessment.

• Design/Landscape Architects & Specifiers will benefit from understanding how this standard supports the growing demand for rigorous environmental documentation for building product material.

• Understand the basic principles of the standards Chain of Custody (COC) to recognize efforts natural stone quarries, processors and their distribution chains make to verify a dimensional stone product has been produced and transported in an environmentally preferable manner consistent with the principles of sustainability

• Compare attributes of the certified natural stone to sustainability measuring requirements of the most widely accepted green building programs such as LEED - Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, LBC - the Living Building Challenge and IGCC - International Green Construction Code, to enhance appreciation for the use of natural stone as a leading sustainable building material

This course has been approved for CEU credit through the following organizations:

• AIA: NSI64-OD, 1 LU/HSW
• IDCEC: CEU-111366-R1, 0.1 HSW CEU
• LACES: NSI64-OD, 1.0 HSW PDH

In order to receive credit, you must complete the exam with at least 80% correct answers.