Sustainability Approach

Sustainability Statement

As a Canadian manufacturer, Barbican is concerned about the impact of our facilities and products on our environment. It is our goal as a company to leave this planet sustainable for future generations. With this aim in mind, we are proactively creating and following measures in our manufacturing process to protect the environment and, through that, the lives of those who live here.

Sustainability at Barbican

Since our founding in 1990, Barbican has flourished thanks to the support of the local community. Barbican always tries to hire locally and supports local students by offering hands-on internships, scholarships, and donations. At Barbican, we believe sustainability is of the utmost importance, and due to this, we strive to meet the highest standards of social and environmental performance for ourselves and our community.

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Barbican's Mandate

To continuously improve our manufacturing process in an effort to reduce our impact on the environment by producing products with long lifespans and partial reusability and recyclability. To operate and maintain a business that cares not only about its financial health but also for the health of our employees, the community, and the environment.

Barbican's Goals

By the end of 2017, 100% of our facilities’ fluorescent bulbs will be switched over to LEDs
By the end of 2018, zero LEDs will end up in the landfill
To eliminate our use of the landfill by 2032
Hold at least two new environmental initiatives/ events per year
Set up a system that monitors water and energy usage
Update our mission statement in 2018 and annually thereafter to evolve our strategies for sustainability
Provide company wide environmental and social awareness training
Increase the number of local suppliers
Set up a monitoring system that tracks waste levels, air emissions and greenhouse gas emissions
Maintain a life cycle assessment on all products
Look for suppliers that meet our sustainability standards

Achievements

We run ten free team bonding events annually that allow us to give back to our employees
Always hire locally when possible
CFO is a member of the Niagara Industry Association which lobbies for the growth of industrial development
Supports graduates from Ridgeway Crystal Beach High School that are pursuing STEM degrees in University
100% of scrap metal is recycled
100% of scrap fabric is donated
100% of our products have been switched from fluorescent to LED
50% of the lighting within our factory has been changed from fluorescent to LED
Purchased new factory that sits on 17 acres, 3 of which are now a protected conservation area

Manufacturing Standards

ISO 14001

Barbican is working towards obtaining the ISO 14001 Environmental Standard. We are setting new environmental goals to help us achieve this by monitoring our water and energy usage, eliminating waste and improving our recycling programs.

B-LAB

B-Lab is a certification that verifies a company meets the highest standards of social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability. Introduced to B-Lab this year, we immediately decided to work towards becoming a Certified B Corporation and join the companies at B-Lab who are using the power of business to solve social and environmental problems.

Barbican's Zero Waste Program

Barbican is committed to its goal of zero waste in all areas of our business. Finding ways to recycle all of our waste or eliminating parts that aren’t recyclable is an integral part of Barbican’s Environmental Approach.

In our facility, we have a rigorous recycling program on our factory floor and within the offices. We have trained our employees in the proper ways to recycle and continuously generate new ways to reduce waste in the facility.

Barbican’s strategy for eliminating waste includes educating all of our employees, speaking with suppliers, improving our facilities’ energy efficiencies, and tracking our progress by performing randomly scheduled waste audits throughout the year.

Barbican’s Goal

Barbican operates within the stringent guidelines of LEED. We exceed the pre and post-recycled material levels and supply chain geographical locations.

Barbican is striving to eliminate waste disposal to the landfill sites in 15 years. Zero Waste is a huge goal and we plan to attain it by reducing our waste by a little more than 20% per year.

LEED Friendly

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a popular green building certification program that has spread across the globe. It was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council to set different standards for design, construction, operation, and maintenance of buildings to help people be environmentally responsible.

All of Barbican’s fixtures are now LEED friendly, as we recognize the importance of reducing our footprint on the environment. In 2017, Barbican’s business plan included producing only energy-saving LED sourcing for all new fixtures designed, as well as converting all existing designs to LED, to fully eliminate fluorescent and incandescent sourcing.

Barbican is a high quality, high design lighting manufacturer of both standard and custom fixtures.

Barbican's fixtures provide a clean innovative, and contemporary design adaptable to enhance today’s corporate, healthcare and hospitality environments.

Barbican is located in the town of Fort Erie, on the Niagara River, across from Buffalo, New York.