Mumbai: Owens Corning, a world leader in building materials systems and glass fiber reinforcements, announced today that it has begun to systematically measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its vehicle fleet.

Owens Corning joined the PHH GreenFleet program developed by PHH Arval and Environmental Defense Fund in an effort to reduce fuel consumption and operating costs, improve efficiency and reduce emissions from vehicle fleets used by its North American sales force.

"We're committed to greening our operations around the world in every area of our business to achieve specific environmental footprint reductions and reduce operating costs," said Frank O'Brien-Bernini, chief sustainability officer for Owens Corning. "Reducing the emissions of our vehicle fleet allows us to achieve both of these goals simultaneously."

Through PHH GreenFleet, Owens Corning established a greenhouse gas baseline and incorporated more efficient vehicles into the fleet. Early steps included eliminating the company's least-efficient vehicles, "right sizing" trucks and sport utility vehicles, and incorporating more front-wheel drive and four-cylinder engine vehicles. Owens Corning expects to increase fleet average miles-per-gallon (MPG) by 18 per cent, reduce greenhouse emissions by 15 per cent and reduce projected operating costs by 8 per cent.

"Through the leadership of Owens Corning and other fleets participating in the PHH GreenFleet program, we are demonstrating that green business and good business go hand-in-hand," said George Kilroy, president and chief executive officer of PHH Arval. "Fleets interested in minimising their environmental impact should look to these companies for examples of the best practices in reducing cost and emissions."

The PHH GreenFleet programme is designed to help companies cost-effectively measure, reduce and offset their greenhouse gas emissions, and PHH clients utilising the program have achieved, on average, a 14 per cent reduction. Participation includes: in-depth analysis and recommendations to improve efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions; quarterly measurement and reporting of emissions; and resources to offset remaining emissions.

"The trend towards measuring and reducing emissions from vehicle fleets is a great success story for the environment and for corporate America," said Tom Murray, managing director of corporate partnerships at Environmental Defense Fund. "We applaud Owens Corning for their leadership in demonstrating that it pays to drive green."

Owens Corning is a leading global producer of residential and commercial building materials, glass fibre reinforcements and engineered materials for composite systems. A Fortune 500 company for 54 consecutive years, Owens Corning is committed to driving sustainability through delivering solutions, transforming markets and enhancing lives. Founded in 1938, Owens Corning is a market-leading innovator of glass fiber technology with sales of $5 billion in 2007 and 19,000 employees in 26 countries on five continents.

A leading national nonprofit organisation, Environmental Defense Fund represents more than 500,000 members. Since 1967, Environmental Defense Fund has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems.