As part of our efforts to achieve carbon-neutral business operations by 2030 and reach science-based emission-reduction targets, we’re moving into higher-performance offices and making our existing ones as efficient as possible.
We encourage our offices to seek LEED certification. Our Sustainable Offices Fit-Out Policy prescribes fit-out guidelines based on green-building and wellness certifications like LEED and WELL. The recently revised policy offers greater flexibility and a broader reach across the firm than our former program, which required LEED certification for all our larger offices and did not touch all offices. In 2023, our San Francisco and Boston offices moved, and both are pursuing LEED Gold certification for their fit-outs.
Depending on its goals, each location may focus on different aspects of the policy. Chicago’s design, for example, was aimed at encouraging teamwork by incorporating collaborative areas throughout and including no private offices. All workstations have views to the outdoors, and the fit-out incorporated several energy-efficiency features, including LED lighting with vacancy sensors and an electricity submeter.
Eleven of our current offices hold green-building certifications (or have applied equivalent strategies). In total, 14 – past and present – have been designed to green standards.
Our green champions (employee volunteers who support corporate responsibility initiatives) help their offices reduce energy consumption and waste and meet carbon-neutrality goals. They also coordinate activities that promote wellness and community service and contribute to climate-action education by organizing events like Earth Week and Daylight Hour (when we extinguish all artificial lighting). In 2023, we averaged around 65 green champions in 33 offices worldwide.
In 2023, we awarded $50,000 in corporate responsibility grants to 19 offices, which used the funds to pay for items or programs that support our corporate responsibility goals. For example, our Warrington, England, office used its grant to fund an LED overhead lighting retrofit; our Boston office installed a “green wall” display of indoor plants; and our new Chicago office started a composting program.
