The Natural Stone Council (NSC), a collaborative organization representing business and trade associations that promote stone under the Genuine StoneTM brand, today announced that they will launch an industry-wide survey to assess environmental performance in early 2008. In partnership with the Center for Clean Products at The University of Tennessee (UT), a data collection tool has been developed and will be distributed to U.S. quarries and fabricators in early January. The natural stone industry will be asked to provide information about production processes, energy and water usage, and other components of daily operations that may impact the environment. Once the responses are received in mid-February, a comprehensive analysis of the data will be conducted by UT. The information will be evaluated and will form the basis of a life-cycle analysis of the environmental impacts of certain stone products, the development of strategic sustainability goals for the industry, and a plan for outreach to the environmental and Green Building communities.