Building Products of Canada has been producing quality home building and home renovation products for generations. The BP brand reflects an almost legendary craftsmanship that goes back nearly 100 years. Our shingles, ceilings, structural and acoustical panels continue to be the products of choice on literally hundreds of thousands of new homes and home renovation projects each year.
We are about products, of course. But we are also about value. And about integrity. What is integrity?
QUALITY PRODUCTS
It is producing quality products without compromise. In the trade, BP products are well known for their quality. The quality of our finished products begins with the quality of the materials that go into them. BP organic shingles are made with a high grade felt produced in our own mills. This felt and the lighter weight felt used in asphalt felt rolls is regarded so highly that Building Products of Canada is the number one seller of roofing paper in North America. For our fiberglass shingles, we use only Johns-Manville glass mat, widely considered the industry's best.
It is backing up these products with the fairest, most comprehensive warranties available. The BP 5-Star warranty, applicable on all our organic shingles, includes full 100% protection, including material and labour, for up to ten years. It covers not only the shingles, but also the underlayment, the eave protector and even the flashings. It covers the cost of tear-off and dumping, if required. And it is fully transferable with no restrictions and no fees attached. No other warranty comes close?except, of course, the warranty we have on our fiberglass shingles.
It is adding value to every product. Value comes in many forms. Warranty, unique features and benefits, and high-end look at affordable prices. Our new Europa slate-style shingle and our Mirage and Mosaic laminate shingle look-alikes are remarkably affordable. Enermax, an interior wall panel doesn't just insulate, adding R-5 insulating value to walls; it actually reduces noise transmission between walls by up to 62%. And it serves as a vapor barrier. Sodisco-Howden, the group behind the Pro Hardware banner, gave BP an Innovation of the Year award for this unique, patented product.
ETHICS
It is treating suppliers, customers and employees with honesty and respect. The Globe and Mail, Canada's national newspaper, listed Building Products of Canada among Canada's 100 most ethical companies. Every employee, when he or she joins the company, must sign an ethics policy that holds him or her to the highest standards of behavior.
It is pursuing employment equity with vigor. And providing employees with outstanding benefits like higher education awards for their children and a share plan that has the company kick in an extra 50 cents for each dollar purchased.
It is the way we see our customers as partners. We have created innovative, award-winning programs and tools to help our customers be the consummate professionals they need to be to prosper. Over the years, we have been named Vendor of the Year by numerous retailers, including Home Depot, and by non-retailers, like Quality Engineered Homes.
It is the way we take responsibility for our industry. Building Products of Canada has worked aggressively to ensure the standards for building materials and construction practices in Canada are maintained at the highest level. For example, we helped develop the training program for roofing for the APCHQ (Quebec home builders association). We were the first Canadian company to be accepted as a member of the American Fiberboard Association.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
It is being environmentally responsible. We have invested millions to put in place some of the most sophisticated pollution control systems in the industry. The effluent from our Pont-Rouge, Quebec, fiberboard plant is actually converted to fertilizer. Building Products of Canada is the only roofing manufacturer in North America that uses returnable pallets. The Canadian roofing industry requires well over 800,000 pallets per year for shingles alone. Each pallet utilizes the equivalent of one 8-ft. log. Moving to disposable pallets as others have done would mean that countless thousands of trees would have to be cut down each year. This is a needless waste of one of our country's most valuable resources.
It is being involved in the community. Building Products of Canada has been committed to Habitat for Humanity from the beginning; we are the official suppliers of roofing products for Habitat homes across the country. We also support university apprenticeship and work study programs.
Integrity. Quality. Value. And, ultimately, respect for the customer. They are part of the thinking that goes into every product we make.