Sara Buxton

Sara Buxton’s role as sustainability implementation engineer with building products maker James Hardie was created in 2024 to accelerate the execution of sustainability projects within the North American market. 

Over the past two years, she has led the deployment of boiler economizer projects, steam-system optimization efforts, insulation upgrades and plant-level efficiency initiatives that are expected to reduce natural gas consumption by approximately 8 percent at participating facilities while lowering operating costs. James Hardie’s goal is to reduce operational and energy emissions by 42 percent by 2031.

Buxton joined the company in 2019 through its engineering development program, where she built expertise in operations, engineering and energy efficiency that has enabled her to turn climate commitments into measurable results. She works directly with plant teams, contractors, engineers and operators to deliver emissions reductions, while also supporting waste-diversion initiatives and long-term decarbonization planning.