On May 14th, 2007, Jacques Whitford signed a charter designed to turn Atlantic Canada into a model of sustainable development for Canada and North America. This is one of the many steps Jacques Whitford has taken on the road to a more sustainable future.
In partnership with GPI Atlantic, The Natural Step Canada and 15 other private and public partners, the Atlantic Canada Sustainability Initiative (ACSI) charter commits all signed participants to sustainability action planning in their organizations. These partners include the municipalities of Halifax and Wolfville, N.S., Saint John, N.B. and Stratford, P.E.I, and businesses including Bell Aliant, Atlantic Canada’s major telecommunications provider.
This collaborative effort will complement a number of Jacques Whitford sustainability initiatives, including those to reduce energy use, waste, use of toxins and greenhouse gas emissions. Employees are fully engaged in an effort to fully integrate sustainability into Jacques Whitford’s everyday culture and operations.
Don Grant (Ottawa office) facilitating a session on municipal sustainability
Since signing the charter, the company officially announced its commitment to carbon neutrality on June 6th, 2007 in conjunction with Clean Air Day in Canada. With more than 1,600 employees in 45 offices, the company is showing how larger organizations can minimize their carbon footprint.
“By signing the charter and becoming carbon neutral, Jacques Whitford is once again demonstrating our commitment to improving both our environmental and social performance,” said Marty Janowitz, Vice President of Sustainability at Jacques Whitford.
A multi-disciplinary team led by Janowitz offers a wide range of sustainability services to provide clients with the same exceptional value that has become a staple of Jacques Whitford’s scientific, engineering, planning and management consulting services.
A number of projects have already been completed, including five community sustainability planning workshops in five cities across Canada. The objectives of the workshops were to familiarize municipal practitioners with the concepts underpinning sustainable communities and highlight case studies where municipalities have put practical sustainable solutions in place. The positive and encouraging feedback from participants has led to planning of similar events in additional cities across the country.
Other projects have included energy planning for municipalities, greenhouse gas calculation and reduction action plans for industrial facilities, facilitation of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) buildings, watershed planning for First Nations and other communities, social and environmental impact assessment of wind energy development, facilitation and review of Federal Government Sustainable Development Strategies, sustainability education programs, and the creation and application of sustainability indicators for various sectors.
Jacques Whitford believes it is our obligation to continue to meet our needs and our clients’ needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It’s with this in mind that we will continue working to develop the Atlantic region as a sustainability hub, while we ‘walk the talk’ throughout our organization.