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Plant Prefab Releases 2020 Corporate Sustainability Report

Nation’s First Certified B Corporation™ Custom Prefabricated Design and Construction Company Announces Key Waste & Carbon Reduction Milestones Amid Growth

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RIALTO, California – April 20, 2021: Plant Prefab, a Certified B Corporation™ custom prefabricated design and construction company dedicated to sustainable building, materials, processes, and operations, is honoring Earth Week with the release of its 2020 Corporate Sustainability Report. Available for download on plantprefab.com, the comprehensive report announces the company’s dramatic results in waste reduction and shares key achievements across social and environmental goals, including an update on its pledge to achieve net carbon neutrality by 2028.

“Health and sustainability are core values for Plant, and we take this responsibility seriously,” said Steve Glenn, Plant Prefab Founder & CEO. “Despite the challenges of the pandemic, I’m incredibly proud to report that we were able to safeguard employee health and continue delivering homes to our clients while making significant progress on our corporate responsibility goals. Our team’s dedication made it possible to uphold these core values and advance key initiatives during a year of great uncertainty.”

Select highlights chronicled in the 2020 report include:

  • Homes: Plant built more homes than ever before, totaling 40,248 square feet of living space. Homes designed by Plant performed an average of 30% better than California Title 24 energy efficiency standards, while all homes the company built outperformed California Title 24 energy efficiency standards by an average 10.4%.

  • Operations: Plant reduced its waste production by 30% in 2020. The company improved its material efficiency by 10% and salvaged 360 cubic yards of wood scrap for recycling into new wood products.

  • Supply Chain: Plant extends its social and environmental responsibility beyond its walls to include all suppliers and vendors. In 2020, 43% of Plant’s significant suppliers were located in low-resource communities, 29% were family owned, and 100% were located within 50 miles of Plant’s Southern California-based factory.

  • Employees: Plant grew its workforce by 31% and further enhanced its far-reaching safety measures. The company maintained a Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) of just 0.6%, well below the industry average of 2.9%.

  • Plant Building System Launch: Fundamental to Plant’s 30% reduction in waste production was the launch of its patented, hybrid system for building prefabricated homes. The company used the new system to build 15 homes in 2020, proving its ability to make prefab even more efficient and sustainable than before. Plant Building System uses advanced engineering and a combination of Plant Modules™ and Plant Panels™, a new panel technology developed by Plant Prefab that incorporates plumbing, electrical, and finish materials. By coupling modules and panels, the system provides architects with greater design flexibility and reduces the complexity and cost of transportation and installation.

A vital and overarching component of Plant Prefab’s environmental goals for 2020, as well as its path to decarbonization, was the company’s approval as a Certified B Corporation™ (B Corp). B Corps are businesses that meet the highest verified standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. To achieve this designation, a company must earn a passing score on the B Impact Assessment, a rigorous, multi-phase review that measures performance in five categories: governance, workers, community, environment, and customers. Plant’s path to certification began in December 2019 with an exhaustive internal audit of its products and operations. Each department was engaged to provide information about current practices and policies, then guided through the measures required to meet B Corp standards. From employee safety protocols and vendor sourcing practices, to profit-sharing policies and customer privacy measures, Plant reviewed and improved upon existing programs and implemented best-in-class tracking mechanisms to ensure continued compliance.

“Becoming a Certified B Corp was more than an affirmation of our values; establishing systems for monitoring our emissions, water use, electricity use, waste generation, and other key metrics was a crucial first step in our path to decarbonization,” Glenn noted. “B Corp standards are now embedded in our operations and governance, and ongoing independent reviews will keep us accountable to our word. We are honored to be the first custom prefabricated design and construction company to become a Certified B Corporation, and we are energized to continue improving our social and environmental performance.”

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ABOUT PLANT PREFAB
With a mission to build a better world by design, Plant Prefab makes it faster and more efficient to build custom, high-quality, healthy, single-family and multi-family homes. Plant Prefab is the first Certified B Corporation™ custom prefabricated design and construction company dedicated to sustainable building, materials, processes, and operations.

All Plant Prefab’s projects are prefabricated in the company's 62,000-square-foot homebuilding factory in Rialto, CA utilizing the Plant Building System™. Combining advanced engineering with Plant Panels™ and Plant Modules™, specialized components designed and patented by Plant, the Plant Building System provides greater design flexibility, quality control, and time and cost efficiencies than both site-based construction and conventional prefabricated approaches while minimizing the negative impact on energy, water, and resources. Clients can work with any architect they choose, including Plant Prefab's award-winning, in-house design studio.

Plant Prefab is defining a new standard in residential home design and construction, helping individuals, architects, and developers efficiently design and build high-quality, cost-efficient, healthy homes. Plant Prefab was funded by Amazon, Obvious Ventures, and others.

In 2019, Plant Prefab committed to full carbon neutrality in their operations by 2028, the first prefabricated home builder to announce a net zero goal.

Plant Prefab homes have garnered significant industry recognition including the AIA’s top sustainable award, Architizer’s Jury and People Choice Awards, Green Builder Magazine’s Home of Year, Business 2.0’s ‘World’s 11 Coolest Products,’ and Businessweek’s “Architectural Wonders of the World.” Nearly thirty Plant Prefab homes have been certified LEED for Homes Platinum, including the first home ever to achieve the certification.