Sustainable Business Practices

>	Total Water Solutions

>	Environmental Solutions

>	Capital & Facilities Solutions

>	Utility Services

>	Energy Solutions

>	Sustainability Solutions

>	Technology & Innovation Solutions

Sustainable Business Practices

Sustainability > Sustainable Business Practices

In our 2010 Strategic Plan: Creating Value-based Solutions, O’Brien & Gere recognizes the need to be a leader in creating and adopting new technologies that reduce our corporate carbon and environmental footprints. Yet, that by itself is not enough; O’Brien & Gere also recognizes the need to develop these technologies for and integrate these technologies into the solutions we provide to our clients, thereby improving their sustainability profiles as well.

Throughout its history of 60 years as an employee-owned engineering and project delivery company, O’Brien & Gere has made tremendous strides towards advancing sustainability. To O’Brien & Gere, sustainable business practices consist not only of explicit facility operations, but also include technology development and partnerships, as well as the infusion of this philosophy into services and solutions provided to our clients. Some recent sustainability initiatives are highlighted below.

Plans to relocate the O’Brien & Gere headquarters to a smaller, more energy efficient office in downtown Syracuse with nearby public transportation. The building will integrate green technologies and reduce the carbon footprint by over 25%.

Investments of $1 million per year of our firm’s retained earnings in the development and demonstration of water infrastructure projects, as well as environmental and energy technologies related to wastewater recycling and recovery, air emissions control, biodiesel, cellulostic ethanol, and wind energy.

Creation of over 102 new jobs since 2002, through collaboration with the Center of Excellence for Environmental and Energy Systems, of which O’Brien & Gere is a charter member and an employee is the founding Executive Director.

Establishment of industry-university partnerships with academic institutions, including Syracuse, SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry, Clarkson, SUNY Morrisville, Duke, RPI, North Carolina A&T, Georgia State, and Berry College (GA).

Establishment of a 100,000 square-foot technology development center (which is located on a former brownfield site that O’Brien & Gere took title to and remediated) to demonstrate new environmental, energy, and water technologies. Patented technologies include ARROW (advanced water treatment), Duct Injection (air emissions control), and Vaprotect (vapor intrusion mitigation).

However, like many of our clients, we are realizing that there is still more we can do to advance sustainability. O’Brien & Gere is currently in the process of challenging itself to do more to support its position as a pacesetter in developing and adopting sustainable technologies by applying its three-step process towards advancing sustainability.

Examples of O’Brien & Gere’s Internal Sustainability Initiatives

	Technology development (e.g., small wind turbines, biodiesel, emissions control) Recycling activities within our offices Irrigation with water from on site wells rather than municipal water Reduced office footprint within building at Headquarters Reduced travel for management meetings Energy management system Energy-efficient lighting and reduced lighting during evenings and weekends Sensors for lighting and toilets Work from home opportunities for employees reducing transportation fuels Plans to relocate Headquarters to more energy efficient office in downtown area with public transportation
	Employee Diversity and Inclusion Program Community service activities Outreach activities within local schools Fitness center, daycare, and lunch room within Headquarters building
	Redevelopment of brownfield properties for reuse as O’Brien & Gere offices Job creation 60 years as an employee-owned company

Yet despite our internal sustainability efforts, O’Brien & Gere’s greatest opportunity to advance
sustainability is through the solutions we provide to our clients. O'Brien & Gere understands its obligation to create value-based solutions for its clients that are environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable, and which preserve our quality of life for future generations. As an engineering and project delivery company, we are dedicated to seeking solutions that integrate technology, innovation, and our 60 years of experience in response to growing concerns about our environment, renewable energy alternatives, and global climate change.

O’Brien & Gere's approach to delivering sustainable solutions embraces the concept of sustainability as a philosophy that is cost-effective, focused on client-specific expectations, systems-oriented, and developed with the vision of minimizing a client’s environmental footprint by decreasing risks and liabilities. The process, which often challenges routine conceptions, strives to produce outcomes that not only support new business opportunities, but that also increase asset values and improve community and stakeholder relationships. O’Brien & Gere’s diverse portfolio of 360° sustainability solutions includes:

Sustainability Strategy, Action Plan, and Metrics
Sustainability Communications and Reporting
GHG Emissions Measurement and Management
Biofuels
Renewable Energy
Energy Efficiency & Management
Combined Heat and Power
Waste-to-Energy
Wastewater-to-Energy
Water Efficiency & Reuse
Systems Integration
Waste Management
Sustainable Remediation
Environmental Impact Analysis

Yet O’Brien & Gere doesn’t view sustainability as merely another set of services. O’Brien & Gere takes advantage of the opportunity to integrate sustainability principles into all projects. By thoroughly understanding our client’s goals and objectives, we can add value to projects by considering and addressing the economic, environmental, and social elements and impacts.