Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/83239
Twenty-five years ago, the Polyisocyanurate ("Polyiso") industry faced a crisis that threatened its survival. Proposals were in place at the international, federal, state and local levels to ban or heavily tax ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) used in the making of Polyiso insulation and other products. Without the time to research and manufacture new blowing agents, the Polyiso industry had no future. To deal with the threat, fierce competitors banded together to save the industry from potentially devastating regulatory action. The six founding members of PIMA — the Polyisocyanurate Insulation Manufacturers Association — moved quickly. Armed with extensive third-party studies, PIMA members testified before Congress on the damaging economic and environmental impact of a hasty ban on Polyiso insulation. Through adroit and intelligent action, combined with data to support its positions, PIMA persuaded lawmakers to drastically scale back the proposed CFC taxes on the Polyiso industry. Equally important, PIMA helped persuade the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to give the Polyiso industry five years to develop an alternative to CFCs through the Clean Air Act. PIMA kept its promises to the EPA and the marketplace with an earlier-than-required phase-out. The industry developed new Polyiso products that were free of ozone-depleting chemicals while remaining the best- performing commercially available building insulation. This productive, cooperative effort created a bond among PIMA members that remains strong to this day. As the association has grown and evolved, this core strength has allowed it to broaden from its advocacy roots. Today, PIMA is a widely respected multidimensional trade association whose members serve on government-sponsored advisory committees to the EPA and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE); testify frequently before Congress and state legislatures; strenuously advocate for energy-code development and adoption; and invest numerous hours developing technical standards to improve overall building performance. A generation ago, the founding members of PIMA understood the meaning of Benjamin Franklin's famous quote: "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately." They still live by those words today. Jared O. Blum President, PIMA