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YKK AP America, which makes doors, windows and building facades, has named its first chief sustainability officer, elevating to the C-suite its focus on minimizing environmental impact and enhancing corporate social responsibility.
Tomohisa Kato, vice president for commercial development since he came in 2019 to the American branch from a role leading corporate planning in Japan, will assume the newly created executive role. Mr. Kato led the 2021 acquisition of Erie Architectural Products, which added a Canadian production facility to the company’s supply chain. He also worked on the company’s digital transformation.
The Japanese-owned company, with a headquarters in Austell and a factory in Dublin, Ga., is part of YKK Americas, the Marietta-based subsidiary with responsibility for the Western Hemisphere.
“I am honored to step into this position where I will address the critical challenges of protecting our environment through our architectural products and conserving natural resources through our business practices,” Mr. Kato said. “The environmental issues we face are common to all of us, and I am proud to contribute my time and energy toward securing a more sustainable future.”
At a global level, YKK AP recently committed to a statement binds all operating companies to a shared purpose to “build a better society through architectural products.” Not only are YKK AP’s factories designed to save energy, but the company has a history of introducing product innovations that help end users do so. YKK AP was the first facade manufacturer to voluntarily provide third-party certified Environmental Product Declarations for all its products. It was also recently honored with the Georgia Clean 13 Award, offered to organizations that contribute to a sustainable future for Georgians.
In August, the company opened a showroom in downtown Atlanta: