We at Perkins&Will reaffirm our commitment to design healthy, sustainable places that promote holistic well-being for people and our environment, and our belief that forward-thinking design is fundamental to advancing a competitive economy. This includes planning for and reducing the effects of climate change, because the best design solutions consider the future, making positive contributions and enduring over time.
Today, we are part of a sweeping national coalition of communities, cities, states, NGOs, universities, and corporations that are working together to drive climate action in the United States. These intrepid, progressive entities have committed to accelerating the rate of emissions reduction in the U.S. to the point where we meet our contributions under the Paris Agreement.
Like Perkins&Will, this coalition realizes that protecting our planet also means strengthening business, creating jobs, and growing the economy. This is why we are all signatories of the Low Carbon USA pact (now known as “We Are Still In”), and why many of us are signatories of the AIA Committee on the Environment’s recent letters to the U.S. Secretary of Energy and to the Administrator of the U.S. EPA, both of which Perkins&Will helped to draft. We sincerely hope the U.S. Federal Government realizes the importance of global environmental and economic leadership, and that it revisits its position on the Paris Agreement. Our coalition would welcome its direct participation in this critical effort.
Perkins&Will’s commitment to environmental health and human well-being is long-standing. We have designed nearly 500 projects—approximately 100 million square feet—to meet or surpass the rigorous standards of LEED, BREEAM, Passive House, SKA, Living Building Challenge, WELL, SITES and other certifications. Many of these projects meet the Architecture 2030 Challenge and AIA 2030 Commitment for carbon neutrality. Nearly 1,000 of our firm’s passionate staff are LEED Accredited Professionals, Certified Passive House Designers, Fitwel Ambassadors, WELL Accredited Professionals, and/or BREEAM Assessors.
In our broader commitment to public health, resilience, and well-being, Perkins&Will’s leadership is transforming the state of the art of environmental design. In 2009, we unveiled our Precautionary List to help designers identify and avoid potentially toxic substances commonly found in the built environment. In 2015, we helped to launch RELi, a comprehensive rating system for resilient design. Most recently, in 2016, our participation in the pilot of the Fitwel certification program—a healthy workplace rating system developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. General Services Administration—helped introduce the program to the marketplace.
And so today, together with a growing coalition of like-minded organizations, we are more optimistic than ever. We reaffirm our commitment to helping our clients, partners, and industry make our planet and economy better through design innovation, advocacy, education, and transparency.
Here’s to a bright future,
Phil Harrison, FAIA LEED AP
Chief Executive Officer
Perkins&Will
