Image courtesy of IceStone web site

In late September we toured the IceStone manufacturing facility in Brooklyn, New York (the recap is here), and at Greenbuild 2009 we were able to speak with one of the company’s two founders, Miranda Magagnini.

She and co-founder Peter Strugatz went into business together in 2003. Miranda recalls: “I was sick of staring at my MBA hanging on the wall and not growing something. I really wanted to grow a brand.” Her MBA was supported by strong branding experience, while Peter’s own business background came coupled with intimate knowledge of manufacturing. They started looking for a cash-flow positive, privately owned business that did not have an established succession plan and which they could buy at a reasonable price and grow into something great.

Peter suggested a small outfit operating under the name Great Harbor Design. At the time, the company was manufacturing slabs similar to what IceStone currently produces, but the colors were not attractive and the general quality was so poor that Miranda estimates at least 50% of their slabs ended up breaking. “The owner had not commercialized anything, but he had spent several million dollars on the initial build-out of the facility… so we bought everything,” she says, and IceStone was born.

The company’s first two years as IceStone were devoted to research and development. They explored better colors for both the matrix and the aggregate, figured out how to manufacture the slabs consistently and at high quality, and made improvements to the facility itself. And none of that was easy. Aside from the obvious capital investment that was required for all these activities, at a base level, sourcing cullet (crushed recycled glass) was a huge challenge. It took a lot of money, time, and effort to find the right suppliers. Currently, they have a national supply network, but no other details about it are forthcoming.

Once the slabs could be marketed, IceStone ran up against the same roadblock that many young manufacturers encounter: material specifiers tend to want to use products that are time-tested, with proven stability and marketability, It was initially difficult for Peter and Miranda to persuade some of the big names in architecture to even test the slabs, and the effort was so slow that when IceStone finally received the first big order – 17 slabs – both of them actually questioned whether or not they could even fulfill it.

Orders grew significantly from there – 157 slabs for a condo project, 3,500 custom-designed table tops for Starbucks – yet there was one more challenge in the company’s trajectory that proved to be a big awakening. From the beginning, Peter and Miranda knew they were selling a green product. The aggregate was always 100% recycled glass. But, they did not realize that the concrete mix used as a matrix for that glass had any detrimental environmental impacts. When they found out about it, the information served as an impetus for the company to become transparent about their processes and their products.

Images courtesy of IceStone web site

They’ll be the first to tell you about how much carbon dioxide is produced by concrete, and while they cannot change that, they have taken impressive steps to reduce their overall environmental impact, even earning Cradle to Cradle certification for their products at the Gold level. Under Miranda’s guidance, the company has also focused a lot of energy on social responsibility. She strives to make the company a place where people love to work, where they feel engaged, respected and fulfilled. It is part of their mission to not only produce beautiful and sustainable products, but also to provide home-grown green jobs that nurture talent, creativity, and skill on U.S. soil.

Miranda’s love for the product, the company, and their internal culture shined through as she told the story. But she was also very pragmatic as she addressed the challenges that they currently face, and the plans they have in place to address them. For example, while she was ebullient about the beauty and unique aspects of the cullet they use, she was outspoken about how they hate being unable to obtain that material from sources closer to their facility because there are no suppliers in New York who can give them what they need (mainly, crushed 100% recycled glass sorted by color). Peter, IceStone’s official “glass guru,” wants to get to the point where they use only 100% local cullet, which he defines as coming from within a 150-mile radius of their facility. But they believe a change at the governmental level is needed to incentivize the creation of the recycling systems needed for that cullet to exist nearby, and are thus realistic about the fact that it will take them a long time to achieve that goal.

Image courtesy of IceStone web site

They also plan infrastructure improvements that will allow them to produce slabs more consistent with the industry standard. Over the years, they have come to realize that their 52.5” wide slabs don’t always fit designs geared toward the 60” wide standard. Because of the increased cost of purchasing more than one slab, this challenge has often bumped IceStone out of projects. A retrofit to adjust this size difference is anticipated within the next two to three years.

In the meantime, if you have used IceStone products on any surface and have sexy photos of the installation, call them up. They are always on the look-out for awesome shots.

Thank you, Miranda, for your time!

related posts:

• January 29, 2010 -- BrightTALK: Sustainable Materials (1)
• January 4, 2010 -- on tour: Vetrazzo (1)
• December 9, 2009 -- stories of sustainability: EnviroGLAS (9)
• March 11, 2010 -- preview: Eco De Vita (0)
• February 22, 2010 -- on tour: epOxy Green (1)