DENVER, CO — (Marketwired) — 09/24/14 — CH2M HILL has joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency–s Green Power Partnership, committing to purchase renewable energy to supply its operations. This commitment supports CH2M HILL–s belief that renewable power has an important role in the country–s air quality, climate change impacts and energy security.
In 2013, CH2M HILL purchased over 11 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power, of which 8.5 million kWh were used for its U.S. operations. That–s 17 percent of the firm–s overall electricity use globally and domestically. CH2M HILL plans to substantially increase its green power purchases in the future as part of a commitment to reduce its overall 2017 carbon footprint by 25% as compared to a 2012 baseline.
“This is a huge honor and we are proud to be recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,” said Elisa Speranza, Chief Communications Officer and Executive Sponsor for Sustainability. “Using green power helps our organization become more sustainable, while also sending a message to others across the U.S. that supporting clean sources of electricity is a sound business decision and an important choice in reducing climate risk.”
The nearly 8.5 million kWh of green power purchased for CH2M HILL–s U.S.-based electricity use reduced the company–s 2013 U.S. carbon footprint by 7,900 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. According to the U.S. EPA, this is equivalent to avoiding the greenhouse gas emissions from nearly 19 million miles driven by an average passenger vehicle, or avoiding the carbon dioxide emissions from the annual electricity use of about 1,100 homes.
CH2M HILL recognizes Renewable Choice Energy, based in Boulder, Colo., as its current supplier of green power instruments. Renewable Choice is a leading supplier of both renewable power and high-quality carbon offsets.
“EPA–s Green Power Partnership is excited to welcome CH2M HILL as a partner and applauds the company–s use of renewable electricity,” said Mollie Lemon, Program Manager of the Green Power Partnership. “In doing so, CH2M HILL is reducing its carbon footprint and helping advance the market for cleaner, renewable resources.”
Green power is electricity generated from environmentally preferable renewable resources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, eligible biogas, biomass and low-impact hydro. Using green power helps accelerate the development of new renewable energy capacity nationwide and helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector.
Read more about CH2M HILL–s sustainability programs in the company–s . As one of the first firms in the industry to publish a sustainability report in 2005, CH2M HILL continues a tradition of excellence and transparency in reporting on internal operations related to sustainability. Verdantix, an independent analyst firm focused on sustainable business issues, named CH2M HILL a U.S. leader in sustainability consulting (2013), environmental services (2012), sustainable engineering (2010) and climate change consulting (2009). These recognitions exemplify CH2M HILL–s commitment to sustainable practices in the company–s internal operations, project delivery services and the communities it serves.
The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages organizations to use green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with electricity use. The Partnership currently has more than 1,300 partner organizations voluntarily using billions of kilowatt-hours of green power annually. Partners include a wide variety of leading organizations such as Fortune 500® companies, small and medium sized businesses, local, state, and federal governments, and colleges and universities. For additional information, please visit .
Headquartered near Denver, Colorado, USA, employee-owned CH2M HILL is a global leader in consulting, design, design-build, operations and program management for government, civil, industrial and energy clients. The firm–s work is concentrated in the areas of water, transportation, environment, nuclear, energy, facilities and urban environments. With US$6.6 billion in revenue and 26,000 employees, CH2M HILL is an industry-leading program management, construction management and design firm, as ranked by Engineering News-Record and named a leader in sustainable engineering by Verdantix. The firm was named Water Company of the Year at the 2012 Global Water Awards. Visit us at ch2mhill.com, , twitter.com/ch2mhill and facebook.com/ch2mhill. Search for jobs at ch2mhill.jobs.