Our mantra - always be a work in progress
We practice the strategies we preach to our markets. It is the responsibility of every person - at the personal and organizational level - to set standards for sustainability by assessing their own impacts and exercising sound judgement throughout their daily lives. Here's where we are as of November 19, 2009:
RENEWABLE ENERGY INITIATIVES
We power our corporate offices with solar power. We run highly efficient Mercedes biodiesel powered trucks for delivery and promotional use, and are considering a plug-in electric vehicle as well.
ENERGY AND MATERIAL CONSUMPTION REDUCTION
Much of our workforce telecommutes on a daily basis, saving an average of 1,550 gallons of fossil fuels per year per person. Most training and sales presentations are conducted via webinars. Project work is done on site, so we use project management and other tools to ensure that we leave the office for valuable purposes, not a forgotten tool or drawing. We've implemented a program to encourage staff to employ solar power for their homes and hybrid automobile technology with grants, down payment assistance, and other incentives. Delivered bottled water was eliminated and replaced with faucet purification system eliminating fuel for delivery of water. Installed motion sensor lights in all office spaces. We've drastically minimized printing and what we still print, we duplex by printing on both sides of paper as well as shrinking size of printed content, which has reduced our paper use by 60%+. Office employees were provided funds to purchase reusable/non-disposable beverage containers, eliminating disposable foam cups. We installed energy efficient lighting in all fixtures, reducing electrical consumption by more than 50%. We work exclusively with suppliers who employ sustainable practices as well as give preference to vendors located in close proximity to project sites in order to reduce fuel consumption during delivery of goods. Customer mailings have been steadily reduced to zero and replaced with email and web communication.
MANUFACTURING PROCESS
100% of the painted steel components we design are powder coated or unfinished. All adhesives used in our facility and in fieldwork are water based and are zero VOC compliant. We have found that many clients in specialty environments, such as cleanrooms and museums, appreciate these features for reasons other than sustainability.
We design and fabricate all of our systems to order, saving energy and building materials by eliminating the need to warehouse parts before they are needed.
RECYCLING
All scrap metals, cardboard packaging, aluminum cans and plastics are recycled and are returned to recycling facilities after use. Other workstation-level recycling initiatives include:
- Wastepaper
- Printer ink cartridges
- Mobile phones/portable devices, including for personal use
- In-office battery and other electronic recycling services for professional and personal equipment
PRODUCTION MATERIALS
We undertake significant effort to purchase raw materials containing high percentages of recycled content.
- Cold Rolled Steel - depending on available supply, contains up to 90% recycled content.
- Cardboard - depending on available supply, contains between 15 and 60% recycled content.
- Particle Board - no new trees are harvested for production of the particle board used in our designs; FSC-certified waste wood byproducts are used from other operations such as saw mills and planning mills supply the raw material (an additional 5% is from secondary sources such as construction and demolition) and use CARB-Phase1 compliant binders. This material was previously sent to landfills after use as an absorbent material.
- Paper - All printed materials are produced on 90% PC or better recycled paper with soy based printing inks, including labels.
We have created a product recycling program that allows our client partners to participate in the 'return to cradle' phase of projects. For 5% of the orginal price of the product we reclaim product from the field and recycle it locally. 90 to 95% of the content in our products can be recycled reducing the impact of our products on the environment.
EDUCATION
Each member of our team is responsible for a minimum of 32 hours of continuing education activity or volunteer work on sustainable projects. We encourage use of public transportation to and from these activities with cash incentives. Our sustainability-focused practices and tips are shared with our client base and our local community and business leaders, enjoining our community in a collaborative effort.
