Bayer MaterialScience LLC Brings Its EcoCommercial Building Program to the Classroom

Pittsburgh, PA, November 20, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Bayer MaterialScience LLC is offering a 1.5-hour course designed for architects and contractors through the American Institute of Architects Continuing Education System.

The course, Chemicals Do Good Things for Building Products, Too: How to Improve Building Sustainability and Energy Efficiency by Choosing Products that Use Advanced Materials, examines the careful evaluation and selection of materials that can be used for sustainable commercial building applications.

Course instructors, who are members of Bayer MaterialScience LLC’s EcoCommercial (ECB) North America Building Program team, explore a variety of high-performance materials that go into building products and their impacts on sustainability and energy conservation. Sustainable building product solutions including building envelope (insulation), daylighting, illumination, indoor environment quality, intelligent building and renewable energy are discussed in detail. Considering cost and performance metrics for materials like insulation and long-term payback estimates are also examined.

Upon completion of the course, attendees will earn 1.5 sustainable design and health, safety, and welfare learning units.

Bayer MaterialScience LLC’s ECB program advocates an integrated, collaborative approach to sustainable building design and construction. Network member organizations provide technologies aligned with target areas that help to reduce energy costs and increase sustainability. The network’s members function independently to provide products and services for sustainable building projects, many of which involve Bayer MaterialScience products. Participants in the expanding ECB program include Bostik, Deloitte Consulting LLP, Eaton Corporation, Graham Architectural Products, IDC Architects, Kingspan, Carnegie Mellon University, Bayer Technology Services, BaySystems and Sheffield Plastics.

To date, Bayer MaterialScience has four EcoCommercial Building showcase projects that demonstrate sustainable, integrated design. The latest addition is the ECB Conference Center, officially unveiled May 26 at Bayer MaterialScience LLC’s Pittsburgh campus. The other facilities are an operational children’s day care center for employees of Bayer CropScience in Germany, an operational Bayer administration building in Belgium, and an office building under construction in India.

Bayer MaterialScience LLC is one of the leading producers of polymers and high-performance plastics in North America and is part of the global Bayer MaterialScience business with approximately 14,300 employees at 30 production sites around the world and 2009 sales of 7.5 billion euros. The company manufactures high-tech polymer materials and develops innovative solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. The main segments served are the automotive, electrical and electronics, construction, medical, and sports and leisure industries. Sustainability is central to Bayer MaterialScience LLC’s business and is based around the key areas of innovation, product stewardship, excellence in corporate management, social responsibility and respect for the environment.

###