The solutions to climate change are already at our fingertips

Climate change is the environmental challenge of our time, and one of the most pressing issues facing our cities and communities today. Because every project we work on is either part of the problem or part of the solution, we have made a commitment to measure the environmental impact of our work, and publish the results annually to drive discussions with peers and partners, clients, and communities about the best ways to make progress in the future. According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA), buildings consume nearly 48% of all the energy produced in the United States. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this figure represents an estimated 11 million metric tons of CO2 that will not be emitted into the atmosphere every year based on sustainable improvements to the built environment. The Westin Hotel & Transit Center at the Denver International Airport confronted the challenge of waste disposal head on, offsetting a massive amount of greenhouse gas emissions through diverting construction waste from landfills. 10,135 tons of diverted construction waste is estimated to save almost 18,000 metric tons of CO2 from being emitted according to the EPAs WARM model-equivalent to the annual emissions of 3,794 passenger cars.