A Message from the Brendle Group Team
For the last four years we have shared Brendle
Group’s progress toward sustainability with our friends, colleagues, and other
interested parties through our annual sustainability reports. This year, as part of updates to our
award-winning Sustainability Management System (SMS), we are forging a new path. Led by our sustainability team – Team
Community and Organizational Sustainability (CaOS) – we have developed a web-based
platform that will allow us to share our progress - both from the previous year
and in an ongoing way - in a more dynamic fashion with more frequent,
interactive updates. On the associated
pages you will find a summary of our recent activities and progress for each
aspect of our SMS, as well as detailed tracking and trending for various
sustainability metrics.
2011 was one of the busiest years for Brendle Group. We celebrated our 15th anniversary as well as our first full year in our new offices, for which in early 2012 we officially earned LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The building has provided a great test bed and showcase for sustainability, from its energy efficiency and renewable energy demonstration technologies to its innovative use of a wide variety of materials. We have opened our doors to the community, providing tours to many local, regional, and international groups interested in sustainability and green building. We have also continued to show our community support through various charitable contributions and over 300 hours of pro-bono services.
This transition to our new office has generated many new challenges and opportunities with regard to our sustainability performance. As one example, while our new space provides a fertile environment for collaboration and innovation, due to its greater square footage than our previous offices in 2011 we experienced an increase in our total energy use. Because of the new building’s significantly greater energy efficiency, however, our energy use per square foot decreased in 2011 and the building’s solar PV panels allowed us to generate 25 percent of our electricity on-site. Another ongoing challenge that we continue to address in 2012 is our air miles traveled, which has increased over the past four years as we continue to secure additional out-of-state work, now across 18 states and growing.
The 2012 update to our SMS along with the more detailed tracking and reporting of our performance will help us address these challenges as we continue to improve our performance and meet our sustainability goals. Thank you for continuing to share the journey with us.
2011 was one of the busiest years for Brendle Group. We celebrated our 15th anniversary as well as our first full year in our new offices, for which in early 2012 we officially earned LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The building has provided a great test bed and showcase for sustainability, from its energy efficiency and renewable energy demonstration technologies to its innovative use of a wide variety of materials. We have opened our doors to the community, providing tours to many local, regional, and international groups interested in sustainability and green building. We have also continued to show our community support through various charitable contributions and over 300 hours of pro-bono services.
This transition to our new office has generated many new challenges and opportunities with regard to our sustainability performance. As one example, while our new space provides a fertile environment for collaboration and innovation, due to its greater square footage than our previous offices in 2011 we experienced an increase in our total energy use. Because of the new building’s significantly greater energy efficiency, however, our energy use per square foot decreased in 2011 and the building’s solar PV panels allowed us to generate 25 percent of our electricity on-site. Another ongoing challenge that we continue to address in 2012 is our air miles traveled, which has increased over the past four years as we continue to secure additional out-of-state work, now across 18 states and growing.
The 2012 update to our SMS along with the more detailed tracking and reporting of our performance will help us address these challenges as we continue to improve our performance and meet our sustainability goals. Thank you for continuing to share the journey with us.
