GREENteam Advances Sustainability In & Out of Opus

In 1953, our founder Gerry Rauenhorst created a better way of doing business in the commercial real estate sector and established a culture of integrity, respect and stewardship.

Our commitment to
corporate responsibility remains rooted in these principles. We take a broad focus with intentional, thoughtful actions to enhance the world around us. Respecting the environment is one way we do this.

Respecting the Environment

Respecting the environment is one of the three focus areas in our corporate responsibility commitment. We strive to be a good steward of the environment, protecting natural resources and reducing negative impact.

While our team collectively looks for opportunities to integrate sustainability in each and every project, the GREENteam is a resource for and advocate of all things sustainability at Opus.

“We have a tremendous opportunity to leverage our culture of collaboration and stewardship to generate valuable sustainability initiatives," said
Dean Newins, President & CEO of Architecture & Engineering and Executive Sponsor for the GREENteam. “It's been a great experience to watch the group and their commitment to advancing sustainability in and outside of Opus."

The team, which is made up of associates from across the organization, takes a long-term view of how our actions and operations effect future generations and the natural, social, cultural and economic environment.

The GREENteam serves as a connection between the greater sustainability community and our associates, sharing industry trends and how to apply them on current and future projects. Understanding the value in these initiatives, the GREENteam works to establish an open platform for associates to introduce, vet and implement continuous improvement practices across the entire organization.

Advancing Sustainability at Opus

The GREENteam uses a combination of top-down executive support and bottom-up grassroots efforts to drive engagement on sustainable practices. They have led a review of our contractual requirements to ensure sustainability is prioritized and updated our intranet with more info about our completed high-performance buildings. This year the team has their sights set on championing the following goals:

• build a support strategy for Project Management to list the costs typically associated with LEED certification
• build a sustainable certification comparative analysis detailing commonly used green certification programs
• build and maintain Revit content for sustainable project features
• create a project kick-off questionnaire to identify and clarify Corporate Responsibility related project goals
• provide internal LEED accredited professionals with information on continued educational opportunities
• collaborate with Human Resources to produce a wellness newsletter to reach the entire associate population

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We aim to positively impact our communities and make them better today and for future generations. We respect the environment and strive to be a good steward, protecting natural resources and reducing potential negative impacts of our work. With LEED accredited professionals in every discipline, we take an integrated, thoughtful approach where green strategies are ingrained in the entire decision-making process. Read more about sustainability at Opus.