"Doing the right thing for our clients, our communities, and the environment, has been the focus of CH2M HILL's operating philosophy since its founding," says Lee McIntire, CH2M HILL's Chief Executive Officer. "Our clients expect us to provide solutions and technologies that will help them be more successful and become stronger environmental stewards, while our employees are committed to doing the same with our internal operations. We are proud of surpassing many of our 2008 goals and looking forward to setting the bar even higher in 2009."
CH2M HILL's Environmental Management System program focuses on three areas: consumable materials, energy efficiency, and business travel and transportation. The program conforms with ISO 14001, a global standard for organizations operating in an environmentally sustainable manner.
According to CH2M HILL's EMS manager Brandy Wilson, through the EMS program per person paper usage decreased 21 percent, four times the goal of 5 percent. The 19-metric-ton reduction in overall paper purchased from 2007 to 2008 resulted in the following environmental and cost savings:
-- 38 tons of wood (about 267 trees)
-- 640 million BTUs of energy (enough to power 7 homes for a year)
-- 98,498 pounds of CO2 equivalent (9 cars per year off the road)
-- 313,711 gallons of wastewater produced (about half of an Olympic-sized
swimming pool)
-- 36,701 pounds of solid waste (about 1 garbage truck)
-- $35,600 in savings to CH2M HILL
The firm's electronic waste recycling program expanded to 86 percent of
U.S. offices, and nearly 70,000 pounds of waste (such as obsolete computer
parts, cell phones, and CDs) was recycled. Formal tele-working programs
were implemented in 5 offices and alternative commute programs implemented
in 7 offices. The introduction of a Green Meetings Guide and installation
of video conferencing software and equipment will further minimize overhead
travel.
Goals for 2009 include decreasing paper usage by an additional 10 percent, establishing environmental criteria for 55 percent of national agreements, reducing leased office space footprint by 5 percent, and reducing greenhouse gas impacts of overhead travel by half. The EMS program is identifying ways to reduce annual electricity use at CH2M HILL headquarters by 5 percent and plans to purchase 10 percent of electricity from wind power.
Headquartered near Denver, Colo., employee-owned CH2M HILL is a global leader in engineering, procurement, construction, management and operations for government, civil, industrial and energy clients. With $5.8 billion in revenue and more than 25,000 employees, CH2M HILL is an industry-leading program management, construction management and design firm, as ranked by Engineering News-Record (2008). The firm's work is concentrated in the areas of energy, water, transportation, environmental, nuclear and industrial facilities. The firm has long been recognized as a most-admired company and leading employer, including being named by FORTUNE as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For (2009) and one of America's Most Admired Companies (2008). Visit www.ch2mhill.com.
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Contact: Tessa Anderson Phone: +1.720.286.2246 E-Mail: Email Contact