Owens Corning helped create a new coalition that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 80 percent in developments and new communities.

The Alliance includes Garforth International and MVV decon GmbH, an international consultancy and energy-related service provider, respectively. The trio is creating an Integrated Energy Master Plan that can be applied to several far-ranging initiatives, including a Ohio college campus and Chinese residential community.

Ultimately, the plan, geared toward developers, campuses and communities, will reduce energy demand by as much as 50 percent and cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80 percent. It avoids the typical building-by-building approach to energy efficiency and relies on smaller equipment to heat and cool buildings. In doing so, the plan reduces the need for buildings to operate as individual islands and instead the peak loading for the system will be spread among all buildings in the community.

"This integrated, holistic approach dramatically reduces the environmental impact of entire communities by focusing both on the way energy is distributed and enhancements to the energy efficiency of the buildings themselves," Frank O'Brien-Bernini, Owens Corning's chief sustainability officer, said in a statement.  "Given that more than 40 percent of the energy used in the United States is for buildings, which is more than industry and more than transportation — these kinds of step changes are fundamental for us to make a significant impact in improving the performance of our homes and commercial buildings."