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Our Commitment to Sustainability

Union's Sustainability Action Plan advances our commitment through measured impact, better materials, equitable systems, and shared learning.

Our Goals

Project Setup & Workflow: Establish standard processes for setting and monitoring sustainability goals at project kickoff, key milestones, and debrief.

Measurement & Reporting: Track Energy Use Intensity (EUI), Lighting Power Density (LPD), and embodied carbon using tools like Sefaira, EC3, and BEAM Estimator; report annually through the AIA Design Data Exchange.

Healthy Materials: Develop vetted material specifications using resources like the Declare Database, Health Product Declarations, and Mindful Materials.

Equity: Integrate equity considerations into every project—ensuring designs include community perspectives, accommodate diverse abilities, and support inclusivity.

Resiliency: Assess how sites are affected by climate change and incorporate resilient strategies with benefit-cost analysis.

Knowledge Building: Run monthly lunch-and-learn programs, support staff conference attendance and certifications (CPHC, LEED, WELL-AP), and develop internal sustainability guides.

Advocacy & Outreach: Share thought leadership through publications, conferences, and client education on sustainable financing opportunities.

Our Operations

Carbon Neutral Operations: We’re researching how to measure and reduce our firm’s carbon footprint—including office utility usage and work-related travel—with plans to offset what we cannot eliminate. Employees are encouraged to walk, bike, or take transit with pre-tax deduction benefits.

Zero-Waste Operations: We’re adopting best practices including local composting, reducing single-use plastics at office events, and minimizing paper use.

Living Laboratory: Our Providence office was designed to meet Living Building Challenge standards, serving as a testing ground for healthy materials and sustainable practices.

Accountability

Led by Principal Joe Haskett (AIA, CPHC, LEED AP), our Sustainability Action Team stewards the SAP with annual reviews. A cross-functional team of Sustainability Champions helps integrate these practices into daily work across the firm.

 
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