Announcements September 23, 2019

Celebrating More Than a Decade of Carbon-Neutral Business Operations

As world leaders convene today for the 2019 U.N. Climate Action Summit, we reaffirm our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint.

We also celebrate a special milestone: 12 years of operating as a carbon-neutral firm.

A little over a decade ago, we pledged to reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in a meaningful, measurable way. Through a concerted, global effort to scale back our business air travel, achieve a minimum of LEED Gold certification for all of our design studios, reduce our use of paper products, and invest in Green-e Certified Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) and carbon offsets, we succeeded in achieving firmwide carbon neutrality in 2007.

We’ve continued to reduce our GHG emissions as we’ve grown, too.

LEED Platinum certification, WELL Silver certification, and TRUE Zero Waste certification make Chou Hall at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business one of the greenest academic buildings in the country.

Berkeley, California

Notably, we’ve achieved a 49-percent decrease in carbon emissions per full-time employee since 2008.

Our efforts continue.

We partnered with the University of Washington’s Carbon Leadership Forum and more than 30 other building industry leaders on a new “EC3” (Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator) tool, which aims to compare and reduce embodied carbon emissions from construction materials.

We’re also a founding signatory of the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada’s (RAIC) Committee on Regenerative Environment’s (CORE) “Architects Declare” pledge, which aims to raise awareness of the impact of the built environment on climate change and prompt immediate action. The pledge is modeled after the United Kingdom’s “Architects Declare” initiative, which we also signed.

And we continue to be part of the United States’ “We Are Still In” declaration, which pledges to accelerate climate action as per the Paris Agreement. You can read our CEO’s statement about that here.

Compared to the average regional hospital, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford reduces energy consumption by 60 percent.

Palo Alto, California

Overall Aerial View of Canada's Earth Tower

At 40 stories, Canada's Earth Tower will become the world’s tallest hybrid wood tower, dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions through carbon sequestration.

Vancouver, British Columbia

Of course, it’s not just about our firm. It’s about our clients, too.

We’re proud to partner with forward-thinking clients every day on projects that radically reduce their carbon footprint—from net-zero-waste university buildings to zero-emission timber towers, drought-defying children’s hospitals to ultra-energy-efficient corporate headquarters.

Because it’s only by working together—as one planet, one human race—that we can drive the kind of climate action that’s needed to protect our future.

Learn more:

Integrated smart technologies record energy data and automate energy use, enabling Unilever's North American Headquarters building to learn from employee behaviors and remember their preferences.

Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

Celebrating More Than a Decade of Carbon-Neutral Business Operations

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