Among the new products that were developed in 2021 employing the DfE process is the KOHLER Maxstow medicine cabinet with defogger, which incorporates the most energy- efficient defogger that Kohler makes. During the design phase, we were able to decrease the use of aluminum in the product which reduced total carbon emissions by 20% . We are also developing a budget-friendly modular platform where customers can choose the products or modular parts based on their needs. Our packaging engineering team used the DfE process to develop the Croc Crate, a high-strength reusable/ returnable package with special interlocking clips that allow for easy inspection with no tools required for unboxing. The package uses less storage space as the volume is reduced by 87.3% and can be easily reused and/or recycled. This new packaging both improves the customer experience and decreases our materials costs and reduces our environmental footprint, as it uses 20% less material, 90% less water, and has 85% less carbon emissions. In 2021 the DfE process was also used to develop improved packaging for the Kennon kitchen sink made of Neoroc composite material, with a goal of reducing damage incurred during shipping. The packaging change added materials to meet performance requirements but the estimated damage reduction of 50% is expected to significantly lower overall environmental impacts including waste, GHG emissions, water use, and toxicity.
New Product Highlights
GHG Emissions Water Stewardship Waste Management Environmentally Friendly Products Innovation for Good Education and Reporting
Creating Increased Product Transparency
We are a pioneer in providing at-scale solutions for product transparency, including supporting the climate-resilience and green building movement through Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) and third-party-verified Declare labels.
These labels communicate how a product is manufactured, what it is made of, and what its impact on the environment is, thus enabling end users to make informed decisions and aiding architects and designers in the achievement of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.
In recent years, we have expanded our EPD offerings to material categories such as vitreous china, cast iron, acrylic, and Vikrell and in 2021 we added 100% of global faucet SKUs to the EPD program. Declare labels are available for products within material groups including cast iron, vitreous china, and stainless steel. Kohler is committed to full product transparency through our partnership with the International Living Future Institute , which organizes the Living Products 50 (LP50) coalition of leading manufacturers working to ensure that healthy, high-performing building materials with full material transparency are the rule, not the exception.
I N T R O D U C T I O N B E T T E R P L A N E T B E T T E R C O M M U N I T I E S B E T T E R L I V E S T R A N S P A R E N C Y A P P E N D I X
Croc Crate Kennon kitchen sink Maxstow medicine cabinet with defogger
17
Previous Page