Armstrong World Industries, Inc. is an international designer and manufacturer of floors, ceilings and cabinets. Based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Armstrong operates 40 plants in 10 countries and has approximately 12,300 employees worldwide. In 2006, Armstrong’s net sales were $3.42 billion, with operating income of $210.8 million.
Armstrong World Industries, Inc. emerged from Chapter 11 reorganization on October 2, 2006. Its stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange October 18, 2006 under the ticker symbol AWI. The Armstrong World Industries, Inc. Asbestos Personal Injury Settlement Trust, holds approximately 66% of AWI’s outstanding common shares. Armstrong's “Fourth Amended Plan of Reorganization, as Modified,” dated February 21, 2006, and confirmed by U.S. District Court Judge Eduardo Robreno in August 2006, become effective Oct. 2, 2006. The Plan includes a comprehensive settlement resolving AWI’s asbestos liability by establishing and funding a trust to compensate all current and future asbestos personal injury claimants. The company had filed for reorganization December 6, 2000, with the federal bankruptcy court in Delaware for reorganization under Chapter 11 because pending asbestos injury claims appeared to exceed the value of the company, and were growing.
“In addition to resolving AWI’s asbestos liability, we used the time in Chapter 11 to restructure our flooring business to make it more competitive,” Mr. Lockhart said. “We made substantial improvements in our cost structure by closing several plants and streamlining our workforce in the U.S. We have also expanded capacity to manufacture wood flooring, broadened our product lines and improved product quality and customer service.”
On January 11, 2007, Armstrong World Industries, Inc. and NPM Capital N.V. announced they were negotiating the sale of Tapijtfabriek H. Desseaux N.V. and its subsidiaries, the principal operating companies in Armstrong’s European Textile and Sports Flooring business segment, to NPM Capital N.V. The sale was finalized in April 2007.
On February 15, 2007, Armstrong World Industries, Inc. announced that it was initiating a review of its strategic alternatives
Distribution Strategy
In the 1920s, the Armstrong Cork Products Company and Sherwin Williams company were the largest industrial customers for hemp fiber.
In 1938, Armstrong bought Whitall Tatum, a leading manufacturer of glass stand-off insulators for utility poles since 1922. The existing molds were eventually replaced with molds bearing the Armstrong name. In April 1969, the business was sold to Kerr Glass Manufacturing Corporation. Demand was rapidly dropping, as utilities were converting to ceramics or going underground, and Kerr moved production to their Dunkirk, Indiana factory in the mid-1970s, and ceasing production several years after that.
During World War II, Armstrong made 50-caliber round ammunition, wing tips for airplanes, cork sound insulation for submarines, and camouflage.
In 1952, a group of leading industrialists that included Alfred P. Sloan of General Motors, Frank W. Abrams of Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, Henry Ford II of Ford Motor Company, John L. McCaffrey of International Harvester, Irving S. Olds of United States Steel Corporation, Henning W. Prentis of Armstrong Cork Company, and Laird Bell of Weyerhauser Timber formed the Council for Financial Aid to Education, which increased corporate gifts to colleges from $24 million annually to $136 million annually over ten years.
In 1958, Armstrong Cork Company created "Armstrong Contracting and Supply Corporation". Armstrong Cork had done insulation contracting since the early 20th century, originally focusing on cork products. Gradually, there was greater emphasis on high temperature insulation. In 1969, this business was sold in a leveraged buyout to 31 existing and retired employees of the contracting company, which became Irex Corporation.
C.U.E., Inc. started as the Polyurethane Division of Armstrong Cork in the 1960s. CUE comes from "Custom Urethane Elastomers" The Fluorocarbon Company of Anaheim, California bought the division in 1972. On April 7, 1986, a group of seven employees acquired the division, in a leveraged buyout.
In 1964, Armstrong bought Phoenix Chair Company, following up with Founders Furniture Company in 1965, Western Carolina Furniture Company in 1966, and both Thomasville Furniture and Caldwell Furniture in 1968. In the 1970s, they expanded with a low-end bedroom furniture line. They bought Gilliam Furniture in 1986, built a new factory in Carysbrook, Virginia later that year, bought Westchester Group in 1987, and Gordon's in 1988; as well as making a major expansion to Thomasville that year. In 1995, the business was sold to Furniture Brands International, the leading manufacturer of residential furniture, with such brands as Broyhill, Lane, and Drexel Heritage.
Armstrong is a member of the Canada Green Building Council. CaGBC is the developer and administrator of LEED in Canada.
The Climate Registry
In 2010, Armstrong achieved Climate Registry certification. To date, Armstrong is the only Climate Registry member that has completed and submitted three consecutive years of greenhouse gas inventory, third-party reporting to the organization.
Armstrong has collected all greenhouse gas emissions data from 2006 – 2008 through third-party verifier ERM Certification and Verification Services. ERM visited six Armstrong sites: Lancaster and Marietta, Pennsylvania; Beverly, West Virginia; and Macon, Georgia; Munster, Germany; and Shanghai, China. We’ve submitted the results from those analyses to The Climate Registry for final verification to help ensure our inventory is accurate and reported according to globally accepted best practices.
In 2008, Armstrong joined The Climate Registry, a nonprofit organization that establishes consistent, transparent standards throughout North America for businesses and governments to calculate, verify and publicly report their carbon footprints in a single, unified registry. The Registry is committed to:
• Utilizing best practices in greenhouse gas emissions reporting;
• Establishing a common data infrastructure for voluntary and mandatory reporting and emissions reduction programs;
• Minimizing the burden on Members, Directors and Native Sovereign Nations;
• Providing an opportunity for Members to establish an emissions baseline and document early action;
• Developing a recognized platform for credible and consistent greenhouse gas emissions reporting;
• Promoting full and public disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions while respecting business confidentiality.
Armstrong plans to have its greenhouse gas inventory certified by an independent third party in the third quarter of 2009.
Collaborative of High Performance Schools
Armstrong is a member of the Collaborative of High Performance Schools. This organization facilitates the design of high performance schools: environments that are not only energy efficient, but also healthy, comfortable, well lit, and containing the amenities needed for a quality education.
Design Futures Council
Armstrong is a research partner and corporate member of the Design Futures Council, an interdisciplinary network of design, product and construction leaders exploring global trends, challenges and opportunities to advance innovation, and shape the future of the industry and the environment. Since 2004, Armstrong has supported the Design Futures Council Leadership Summit on Sustainable Design at the highest level as a Platinum sponsor, the only manufacturer to do so
EMerge™ Alliance
Armstrong is a founding governing member of EMerge Alliance. Brian Patterson, general manager, New Business Development for Armstrong’s ceiling division, is chairman of the Alliance and John Lamprinakos, president and CEO of the Armstrong-Worthington Joint Venture (WAVE), is treasurer.
EMerge Alliance was created in 2008 to promote the rapid adoption of the EMerge standard. This standard provides an efficient way to distribute safe, low-voltage direct current (DC) power in interior building systems via conductors like our new DC FlexZone™ commercial ceiling grid system. DC FlexZone allows the use of DC power for lighting fixtures, sensors and other electrical devices in the ceiling significantly improving the flexibility and reuse of interior spaces through “plug and play” modularity. Want to repurpose or reconfigure a space? There’s no need to rewire with DC FlexZone.
Commercial buildings use between a third and one half of the alternating current (AC) electricity produced and distributed by public utilities in the U.S. But companies today use more digital electronic devices that are inherently DC power. This demands that even more AC power be converted to DC (direct current) to make equipment like electronic lighting ballasts, solid state lighting (i.e. LEDs), HVAC controls and actuators, and assorted computer/IT equipment work. Similarly, DC power from renewable energy sources like solar or wind must be converted to AC to be compatible with public utility supplied power. These conversions result in a significant loss of electricity. EMerge Alliance advocates distributing power in commercial buildings as DC, which permits fewer and/or more efficient conversions.
The EMerge standard is focused on direct use of DC power, including sustainable energy sources like wind and solar. It also facilitates use of more sustainable devices like dimmable electronic ballasts, LED lighting and digital controls.
EPA Green Power Partner
Armstrong is a certified Green Power Partner of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). We purchase 2.2 million kilowatt hours of wind-generated energy, the equivalent of 75% of the power for our Corporate Headquarters Building 701. By using clean, renewable wind power at this rate, it’s as if Armstrong planted 149,000 trees or removed 300 automobiles from the road.
The Green Power Partnership encourages organizations to purchase green power—solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass and low-impact hydro—as a way to reduce the risk of climate change and the environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity use.
Energy Star
In 2007, Armstrong became an Environmental Protection Agency Energy Star Partner, reinforcing our fundamental commitment for continuous energy performance improvement. As an Energy Star Partner, we are committed to:
• measuring, tracking and benchmarking global energy performance;
• developing and implementing plans to improve energy performance, adopting Energy Star’s strategy; and
• educating staff, stakeholders and the public about the partnership and achievements with Energy Star.
Armstrong World Industries, Inc. emerged from Chapter 11 reorganization on October 2, 2006. Its stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange October 18, 2006 under the ticker symbol AWI. The Armstrong World Industries, Inc. Asbestos Personal Injury Settlement Trust, holds approximately 66% of AWI’s outstanding common shares. Armstrong's “Fourth Amended Plan of Reorganization, as Modified,” dated February 21, 2006, and confirmed by U.S. District Court Judge Eduardo Robreno in August 2006, become effective Oct. 2, 2006. The Plan includes a comprehensive settlement resolving AWI’s asbestos liability by establishing and funding a trust to compensate all current and future asbestos personal injury claimants. The company had filed for reorganization December 6, 2000, with the federal bankruptcy court in Delaware for reorganization under Chapter 11 because pending asbestos injury claims appeared to exceed the value of the company, and were growing.
“In addition to resolving AWI’s asbestos liability, we used the time in Chapter 11 to restructure our flooring business to make it more competitive,” Mr. Lockhart said. “We made substantial improvements in our cost structure by closing several plants and streamlining our workforce in the U.S. We have also expanded capacity to manufacture wood flooring, broadened our product lines and improved product quality and customer service.”
On January 11, 2007, Armstrong World Industries, Inc. and NPM Capital N.V. announced they were negotiating the sale of Tapijtfabriek H. Desseaux N.V. and its subsidiaries, the principal operating companies in Armstrong’s European Textile and Sports Flooring business segment, to NPM Capital N.V. The sale was finalized in April 2007.
On February 15, 2007, Armstrong World Industries, Inc. announced that it was initiating a review of its strategic alternatives
Distribution Strategy
In the 1920s, the Armstrong Cork Products Company and Sherwin Williams company were the largest industrial customers for hemp fiber.
In 1938, Armstrong bought Whitall Tatum, a leading manufacturer of glass stand-off insulators for utility poles since 1922. The existing molds were eventually replaced with molds bearing the Armstrong name. In April 1969, the business was sold to Kerr Glass Manufacturing Corporation. Demand was rapidly dropping, as utilities were converting to ceramics or going underground, and Kerr moved production to their Dunkirk, Indiana factory in the mid-1970s, and ceasing production several years after that.
During World War II, Armstrong made 50-caliber round ammunition, wing tips for airplanes, cork sound insulation for submarines, and camouflage.
In 1952, a group of leading industrialists that included Alfred P. Sloan of General Motors, Frank W. Abrams of Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, Henry Ford II of Ford Motor Company, John L. McCaffrey of International Harvester, Irving S. Olds of United States Steel Corporation, Henning W. Prentis of Armstrong Cork Company, and Laird Bell of Weyerhauser Timber formed the Council for Financial Aid to Education, which increased corporate gifts to colleges from $24 million annually to $136 million annually over ten years.
In 1958, Armstrong Cork Company created "Armstrong Contracting and Supply Corporation". Armstrong Cork had done insulation contracting since the early 20th century, originally focusing on cork products. Gradually, there was greater emphasis on high temperature insulation. In 1969, this business was sold in a leveraged buyout to 31 existing and retired employees of the contracting company, which became Irex Corporation.
C.U.E., Inc. started as the Polyurethane Division of Armstrong Cork in the 1960s. CUE comes from "Custom Urethane Elastomers" The Fluorocarbon Company of Anaheim, California bought the division in 1972. On April 7, 1986, a group of seven employees acquired the division, in a leveraged buyout.
In 1964, Armstrong bought Phoenix Chair Company, following up with Founders Furniture Company in 1965, Western Carolina Furniture Company in 1966, and both Thomasville Furniture and Caldwell Furniture in 1968. In the 1970s, they expanded with a low-end bedroom furniture line. They bought Gilliam Furniture in 1986, built a new factory in Carysbrook, Virginia later that year, bought Westchester Group in 1987, and Gordon's in 1988; as well as making a major expansion to Thomasville that year. In 1995, the business was sold to Furniture Brands International, the leading manufacturer of residential furniture, with such brands as Broyhill, Lane, and Drexel Heritage.
Armstrong is a member of the Canada Green Building Council. CaGBC is the developer and administrator of LEED in Canada.
The Climate Registry
In 2010, Armstrong achieved Climate Registry certification. To date, Armstrong is the only Climate Registry member that has completed and submitted three consecutive years of greenhouse gas inventory, third-party reporting to the organization.
Armstrong has collected all greenhouse gas emissions data from 2006 – 2008 through third-party verifier ERM Certification and Verification Services. ERM visited six Armstrong sites: Lancaster and Marietta, Pennsylvania; Beverly, West Virginia; and Macon, Georgia; Munster, Germany; and Shanghai, China. We’ve submitted the results from those analyses to The Climate Registry for final verification to help ensure our inventory is accurate and reported according to globally accepted best practices.
In 2008, Armstrong joined The Climate Registry, a nonprofit organization that establishes consistent, transparent standards throughout North America for businesses and governments to calculate, verify and publicly report their carbon footprints in a single, unified registry. The Registry is committed to:
• Utilizing best practices in greenhouse gas emissions reporting;
• Establishing a common data infrastructure for voluntary and mandatory reporting and emissions reduction programs;
• Minimizing the burden on Members, Directors and Native Sovereign Nations;
• Providing an opportunity for Members to establish an emissions baseline and document early action;
• Developing a recognized platform for credible and consistent greenhouse gas emissions reporting;
• Promoting full and public disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions while respecting business confidentiality.
Armstrong plans to have its greenhouse gas inventory certified by an independent third party in the third quarter of 2009.
Collaborative of High Performance Schools
Armstrong is a member of the Collaborative of High Performance Schools. This organization facilitates the design of high performance schools: environments that are not only energy efficient, but also healthy, comfortable, well lit, and containing the amenities needed for a quality education.
Design Futures Council
Armstrong is a research partner and corporate member of the Design Futures Council, an interdisciplinary network of design, product and construction leaders exploring global trends, challenges and opportunities to advance innovation, and shape the future of the industry and the environment. Since 2004, Armstrong has supported the Design Futures Council Leadership Summit on Sustainable Design at the highest level as a Platinum sponsor, the only manufacturer to do so
EMerge™ Alliance
Armstrong is a founding governing member of EMerge Alliance. Brian Patterson, general manager, New Business Development for Armstrong’s ceiling division, is chairman of the Alliance and John Lamprinakos, president and CEO of the Armstrong-Worthington Joint Venture (WAVE), is treasurer.
EMerge Alliance was created in 2008 to promote the rapid adoption of the EMerge standard. This standard provides an efficient way to distribute safe, low-voltage direct current (DC) power in interior building systems via conductors like our new DC FlexZone™ commercial ceiling grid system. DC FlexZone allows the use of DC power for lighting fixtures, sensors and other electrical devices in the ceiling significantly improving the flexibility and reuse of interior spaces through “plug and play” modularity. Want to repurpose or reconfigure a space? There’s no need to rewire with DC FlexZone.
Commercial buildings use between a third and one half of the alternating current (AC) electricity produced and distributed by public utilities in the U.S. But companies today use more digital electronic devices that are inherently DC power. This demands that even more AC power be converted to DC (direct current) to make equipment like electronic lighting ballasts, solid state lighting (i.e. LEDs), HVAC controls and actuators, and assorted computer/IT equipment work. Similarly, DC power from renewable energy sources like solar or wind must be converted to AC to be compatible with public utility supplied power. These conversions result in a significant loss of electricity. EMerge Alliance advocates distributing power in commercial buildings as DC, which permits fewer and/or more efficient conversions.
The EMerge standard is focused on direct use of DC power, including sustainable energy sources like wind and solar. It also facilitates use of more sustainable devices like dimmable electronic ballasts, LED lighting and digital controls.
EPA Green Power Partner
Armstrong is a certified Green Power Partner of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). We purchase 2.2 million kilowatt hours of wind-generated energy, the equivalent of 75% of the power for our Corporate Headquarters Building 701. By using clean, renewable wind power at this rate, it’s as if Armstrong planted 149,000 trees or removed 300 automobiles from the road.
The Green Power Partnership encourages organizations to purchase green power—solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass and low-impact hydro—as a way to reduce the risk of climate change and the environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity use.
Energy Star
In 2007, Armstrong became an Environmental Protection Agency Energy Star Partner, reinforcing our fundamental commitment for continuous energy performance improvement. As an Energy Star Partner, we are committed to:
• measuring, tracking and benchmarking global energy performance;
• developing and implementing plans to improve energy performance, adopting Energy Star’s strategy; and
• educating staff, stakeholders and the public about the partnership and achievements with Energy Star.