Green Commitment

Sustainability is an Integral Part of Quality Design

As leaders in sustainable design, with LEED Accredited professionals in all of our offices, we’ve gained expertise on sustainability while continuing to incorporate the best products and practices into our plans. We implement sustainability as an integral part of quality design and a challenge to build community responsibly.

That’s why all of our projects include an integrated design approach; it’s the nature of the projects we choose to work on. We work closely with our clients to define sustainable options and goals as a team, setting measurable, achievable goals and finding ways to make it all affordable.

Our Commitment – 2030 Challenge

Van Meter Williams Pollack has signed on to the AIA 2030 Commitment program and its goal of carbon-neutral buildings by the year 2030. We believe we do good work that strives to address the issues of the day and shape a better future. However, we understand that we must reach beyond our standard practices to address the accelerating crisis. We also know that we need to do that work as a committed profession reaching with our peers to do more and support each other in doing more. We are signing the Commitment to improve our current integrated design approach, push our realization of significant reductions in the use of natural resources, non-renewable energy sources and waste production, and promote regeneration of natural resources.

Sustainability Committee

Our committee has worked for months discussing where we are, where we want to go, and how we are going to get there. We have presented to the worldwide office and received feedback that has been integrated into the plan. It has been a truly collaborative process with over half the office participating in the plan. We understand that our office should be a microcosm of the collaboration needed across the industry to meet the 2030 Challenge.

Sustainability Action Plan

VMWP’s Sustainability Action Plan (SAP) document is available HERE. It is divided into six sections:

  1. Business Culture
  2. Design Approach
  3. Evaluation and Reporting
  4. Sustainability Advocacy Outreach
  5. Education and Training
  6. Operations and Outlook

Our Sustainability Action Plan has been uploaded to the AIA 2030 Design Data Exchange (DDx) where we manage and track the progress of our firm’s entire design portfolio toward meeting the 2030 goals.

Why? What? How?

We desire to make immediate progress, so we have incremental goals for this year and for 2030. We know that small steps will continue the momentum and help us reach our goal. To aid us in tackling these enormous tasks, we have simplified our sections into three questions:

  • WHY? – Why are we doing this? Why is it important to adhere to the 2030 Challenge?
  • WHAT? – What are our goals in this category? Specifically, what goals do we have for 2021 and 2030?
  • HOW? – What actions will help us meet our goals?

Keep in Mind

Buildings account for nearly 40% of greenhouse gas emissions today—but they don’t have to. We can make a positive impact if we start today. For more info on how to help, see Green Resources.

 

Van Meter Williams Pollack LLP