Energy Efficiency, GHG Emissions, Sourcing Renewables  -  June 13, 2022

Saint-Gobain Invests in Zero-Carbon Gypsum Plant

Saint-Gobain, through its building products subsidiary CertainTeed Canada Inc., announced plans to upgrade equipment at its Montreal wallboard manufacturing facility via an investment of $91 Million CAD, including $40 Million CAD in grant money from the government of Quebec, via its EcoPerformance program, 

The investment will reduce its carbon emissions by up to 44,000 metric tons a year, thereby creating a  zero carbon drywall plant. The equipment upgrades will also reduce the site’s energy usage by 30% and the plant will transition away from using fossil fuels to solely being powered by renewable electricity from Hydro-Québec.

 The upgrades will increase the Montreal plant’s production capacity by up to 40%. The company has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

All of the production equipment at the Montreal plant that is currently powered by natural gas will be upgraded to newer equipment powered by renewably-sourced electricity. These upgrades will allow the manufacturing operations at the plant to achieve carbon neutrality. Construction on the project is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2023 and the new equipment will come online in late 2024.

“Today we begin a historic new chapter at our Montreal gypsum plant, leading our industry towards a more sustainable future while increasing our production capacity at a time of unprecedented customer demand,” said Dennis Wilson, Vice President of Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) North America and Managing Director, Saint-Gobain Circular Economy Solutions, in a statement. “The electrification of our Montreal plant is a massive step forward in our broader goal to decarbonize construction materials and a significant step towards our global goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.”

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