MIDLAND, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) announced today that it will join the Smart Cities Council, an alliance of companies collaborating to deliver frameworks and solutions for smarter cities. Dow’s membership has been featured in the White House Fact Sheet, released Monday, which recognizes the Company’s contributions to five select cities looking to accelerate urban livability, workability and sustainability.

“Cities can provide society with a blueprint for building sustainable, livable communities around the world,” said Neil Hawkins, Dow’s corporate vice president and chief sustainability officer. “Dow is committed to applying our expertise in science and engineering to transition cities into more innovative, adaptable and collaborative places for a connected and resilient future.”

As a Lead Partner of the Smart Cities Council, Dow aims to:

• Support city planners in their efforts to adopt new solutions and processes and promote smart building codes and plans
• Collaborate with other Smart Cities Council members on integrated city solutions spanning science and technology
• Enhance the Smart Cities Council’s “Readiness Guide” with increased focus on building and construction solutions for cities as they plan and implement modernization technologies and processes

Dow’s participation in the Smart Cities Council supports the Company’s 2025 Sustainability Goals in terms of developing a societal blueprint that integrates public policy solutions, science and technology, and value chain innovation to facilitate the transition to a sustainable planet and society. Through these goals, Dow continues to lead the transition to a world where cities are at the core of healthy living, delivering ever-increasing value to customers through sustainable products and solutions.

Dow’s city-oriented solutions span from infrastructure to building materials designed to make cities more resilient, long lasting and sustainable. With this engagement, Dow is taking an active step in encouraging a greener lifestyle for the building industry that accounts for 40 percent of the national carbon emissions.

“A better city depends on better buildings,” said Jane Palmieri, business president for Dow Building & Construction. “Clean air, security, health, comfort and prosperity can’t thrive without a smart approach to building homes, communities and cities. By joining the Smart Cities Council, Dow aims to facilitate collaboration, sustainability, innovation and community success starting with the very first blueprint through to the lifetime performance of the building. We believe a smart city has a combined focus on bits, bytes and molecules.”

"We are so pleased to have Dow's world-leading materials science on our side," said Jesse Berst, chairman of the Smart Cities Council. "Dow's deep expertise in building science is the ideal complement to the data and analytics of our other member companies. Together, they point the way to the ultra-smart, ultra-efficient buildings of the future."

About Dow Building & Construction

Dow Building and Construction (B&C) is a specialized business of building code experts, scientists, formulators and specialty counselors dedicated to advancing the construction industry with building material solutions, while leveraging the century-plus capabilities and resources of Dow. Key products in rigid insulation, spray foam, weatherization and air sealing solutions, acrylic roof coatings, concrete additives and tile adhesives transform the way buildings are designed, built and operated. Dow B&C helps create a more sustainable world with high-performance solutions and energy efficient construction technologies. Two primary businesses in this group include Dow Construction Chemicals and Dow Building Solutions.

About Dow

Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company is driving innovations that extract value from material, polymer, chemical and biological science to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, clean energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's integrated, market-driven, industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 180 countries and in high-growth sectors such as packaging, electronics, water, coatings and agriculture. In 2015, Dow had annual sales of nearly $49 billion and employed approximately 49,500 people worldwide. The Company's more than 6,000 product families are manufactured at 179 sites in 35 countries across the globe. On June 1, 2016, Dow became the 100 percent owner of Dow Corning Corporation’s silicones business, a global company with sales of greater than $4.5 billion in 2015, 25 manufacturing sites in 9 countries and approximately 10,000 employees worldwide. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.

About the Smart Cities Council

Launched in 2012, the Smart Cities Council is the author of the internationally recognized Smart Cities Readiness Guide, which provides guiding principles and best practices for an integrated, cross-cutting smart city. The Readiness Guide was developed based on discussions with hundreds of cities and solution vendors, and has been applied all over the world. The Council is comprised of more than 120 partners and advisors who have generated $2.7 trillion in annual revenue and contributed to more than 11,000 smart cities projects. To learn more, visit www.smartcitiescouncil.com.

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