December 5, 2008
The Pittsburgh Business Times honors some of the region’s hardest-working companies with their annual Manufacturer of the Year Awards. The awards ceremony traditionally credits businesses from three categories: small company, medium company, and large company. For the first time this year, the 2008 Manufacturer of the Year Awards included a new category, the sustainable company category, in recognition of green thinking and sustainable business practices.
Along with earning a spot as a finalist in the medium company category, Ductmate Industries is proud to announce their acknowledgement as the first ever Pittsburgh Business Times Sustainable Manufacturer of the Year. With their extensive line of energy efficient air-flow products for the HVAC industry, Ductmate prides itself on their ability to ensure air-tight seals throughout the ductwork system. Ray Yeager, president and CEO of Ductmate Industries, likes to say that Ductmate was a leader in “green” practices before anyone knew the meaning of the word. “The products that we have manufactured have always been energy-saving,” Yeager said. “We have been green actually before there was such a thing as being green.”
In the mid-1990’s, Ductmate developed a water-based duct sealant, an environmentally friendly alternative to the existing solvent-based sealants. The company more recently introduced the GreenSeam snap-lock pipe product, which reduces leakage by about 95 percent (along the longitudinal seam). Also, in continuing with their industry-leading dedication to efficiency and improvement, the company received a Product Innovation Grant in 2007 through Pittsburgh’s Green Building Alliance to fund the development of the second generation of GreenSeam technology.
Projects across the country have utilized Ductmate’s products, including some that are working toward Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. “Our product is probably in almost every large commercial building in the country,” Yeager said, citing convention centers in New York City and Chicago as two examples. “We have very high market share.” And it is for a good reason. Now more then ever, Ductmate has embraced the shift to sustainability. After recognizing a recent spike in interest in energy efficient construction, Ductmate has brought on engineers with experience in LEED and project certification to help make projects more energy efficient.
Ductmate is proud to be among the other finalists recognized in the 2008 Manufacturer of the Year Awards, and intends to maintain manufacturing the highest-quality, most efficient products in the HVAC industry while continuing with their environmentally-conscious and sustainable attitude.
Find out more at:
pittsburgh.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2008/12/08/focus13.html
Return to Ductmate News listing
