Eco-friendly company to get greener in new digs

BY ANDY BLATCHFORD

andy.blatchford@transcontinental.ca

For three decades, Russell Fiset has proven you can be a shade of green and still make a profit.

Now, the founder of a recycled-material insulation manufacturer is building an

eco-friendly production centre to house operations.His Pointe Claire company, Igloo Cellulose Inc., is heading east to a new $9-million home in Dorval, which will be among the first accredited LEED (Leadership in Ener-gy and Environmental Design) industrial structures in Quebec.

Fiset says he’s prepared to shell out the extra $200,000 or so to meet LEED’s strict guidelines and promote sustainable development.

“Why not?” Fiset asked. “It’s time we do extraordinary things (for the environment).”

LEED accreditation is an American system that demands sustainable practices in several areas of construction.

The Canada Green Building Council website says criteria include the building’s site, water efficiency, energy consumption, type of construction material and indoor environmental quality.

To meet LEED’s requirements, Igloo’s 46,600-square-foot facility will consist of features such as a green roof, recycled steel and, doubling as an advertisement, his company’s own insulation product.

“This project will continue the mission we started 30 years ago,” Fiset told a group of people gathered last Thursday for a ground-breaking ceremony at the work site.

“We chose materials and methods that won’t tax the environment too much,” he said.

Long term, the building will offer economic benefits in reduced energy costs, said the project’s architect Nicolas Blais.

He said blueprints call for the “least environmental impact possible.”

Construction materials, including the steel beams taken from a demolished building, are cheaper, but more effort is required, he added.

“It’s something that will become more and more common,” Blais said of LEED

certification.

“It’s worth it.”

Igloo, meanwhile, expects add to its current daily pace of transforming 50 tons of used paper into cellulose insulation at the new Miller Avenue plant.

Its thermal and acoustical insulation is made from 85 per cent recycled newspaper.

Using new equipment, the company aims to bolster production by 25 per cent.

Fiset said the added capacity is necessary because Igloo, a leading Canadian international cellulose insulation manufacturer, is growing by 15 per cent annually.

Dorval Mayor Edgar Rouleau, on hand for the ceremony, said the project is setting the tone for the future of his city.

Rouleau said Dorval is preparing to establish its first environment committee, consisting of councillors, city workers and residents.

He hopes to pass on what Fiset started.

“As a city we have to show an example,” said Rouleau, adding Dorval is considering more environmentally-friendly practices.

“Before we tell anyone to do something we have to do it ourselves.”?