The Communications Cable and Connectivity Association (CCCA) and the Sustainable Technology Environments Program (STEP) Foundation announced that CCCA has joined the STEP Foundation's board of directors as a supporting member.
The STEP Foundation addresses environmental sustainability -- i.e., the goal to eliminate or decrease the environmental harm caused by the production and consumption of goods -- as that issue relates to the technology within a building. Founded by InfoComm International and CompTIA, STEP was created by manufacturers, designers, integrators, and users to enable building owners to plan for, and implement, sustainable technology projects that provide both economic and environmental benefits. CCCA is comprised of manufacturers, distributors and material suppliers who are committed to functioning as a resource for well-researched, fact-based information on the technologies and issues vital to the structured cabling industry.
“CCCA and its members have been supportive of STEP since its inception because it offers a scalable framework for evaluating sustainable technology systems,” Bill Kloss, OFS and CCCA’s Chairman said. “As a supporting member, CCCA can now participate directly in the development and organic evolution of STEP to include the building cabling infrastructure."
Kloss added, "We are also delighted that our membership affords closer ties and collaboration with InfoComm, TIA, BICSI and Comp TIA. Through these alliances, users can rely on best practices that are sustainable, science-based and industry ratified.”
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STEP has established its own rating system for technology projects, complementing rating systems such as LEED and Energy Star. STEP extends beyond certain LEED credits that focus on the shell and core of a building, by adding a rating system for the electronic systems that work within the building. The STEP rating system employs a flexible, sustainability rating scale that is adaptable to any technology project within the building environment.
Allen Weidman, executive director of the STEP Foundation stated, “I’m very pleased and excited that the CCCA is joining the STEP Foundation as a supporting member. Having been a participant in the wire and cable industry for almost two decades, I understand how valuable and essential their products and services are to the information communications industry. The STEP Foundation will now benefit as the CCCA members bring their collective experience and expertise to the STEP Rating System.”
“Joining The Foundation gives our association and members another opportunity to express leadership in sustainable products and manufacturing operations,” added Frank Peri, executive director, CCCA. ”We recognized the structured cabling industry had to be more proactive in giving what designers and building owners needed – a user-friendly solution for rating the sustainability of cable products and the processes that manufacture them.”
The STEP rating system will evolve to include manufactured cabling and connectivity products in a flexible, user-friendly framework that is expected to appeal to major building segments striving to achieve sustainability goals. Those segments include federal, state, local government, healthcare, higher education entities and major commercial building owners. CCCA expects to play an important role in defining how manufactured cabling and connectivity products are evaluated and how they contribute to environmental sustainability.
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