RWDI's Corporate Plan for a Sustainable Future
There is currently no greater or more complex challenge facing humanity than climate change, particularly at the intersection between the natural and built environments.
As a global leader in climate engineering and consulting – with capabilities in corporate sustainability, sustainable buildings, climate change consulting, and environmental engineering – RWDI has the unique ability to support our clients’ ambitious sustainability goals while reducing our own environmental impact.
Our 2023 Corporate Environmental Sustainability Plan builds on our past promises, experience, expertise, and success in the sustainability space. It outlines the specific and critical actions we will undertake over the upcoming year to expand our sustainability efforts and achieve our corporate sustainability priorities.
Responsible Environmental Practices
We will identify and manage the environmental impacts of our own business to protect the environment, reduce our carbon footprint, and prevent other forms of pollution.
OUR FY23 GOALS
CARBON REDUCTION
Travel generates a significant amount of carbon emissions, making it one of the most considerable business impacts on the environment. As such, RWDI carefully evaluates our air travel utilization and frequency – with a goal of reducing our carbon footprint as linked to travel.
BUSINESS WASTE POLICIES
We will continue to implement policies from previous years, such as the “#GoDigital” campaign and removal of single-use plastics from our operations. We will also identify and develop additional opportunities moving forward, including quantifying, measuring, and offsetting our power usage.
INSTALL EV CHARGING STATIONS
In FY23 we intend to invest in the installation of electric vehicle charging stations at our Guelph headquarters – an effort that will reduce the carbon and natural resource consumption of our business operations.
LEED CERTIFICATION
Building on the successful certification for our Guelph headquarters, in FY23 we will undertake LEED® certification for our offices in Trivandrum, India and Portland, Oregon. We will once again leverage the expertise of our internal sustainability experts to implement the necessary infrastructure improvements to achieve certification. As well, we will continue to invite and encourage the landlords of our rented facilities to implement similar changes, with the goal of applying best practices company-wide.
Passionate People
We will engage our staff in achieving our mission of “profiting the planet.” Led by our local Sustainability Representatives appointed in each of our offices, we will identify opportunities for increased awareness and active participation for all staff to help achieve office sustainability goals.
Community Support
Corporate Social Responsibility has always been central to RWDI’s corporate culture. Over the years, both our firm and our people have donated time and resources to great charitable organizations. In FY21, we expanded on this legacy of giving with our formal RWDI GIVES program, a voluntary employee donation program wherein RWDI matches donations made by our employees. Through RWDI GIVES, we support non-profit organizations – selected by our employees - whose core mission is to protect the environment, promote the sustainable use of ecosystems, and strive to reduce the loss of biodiversity.
Future Focused
With a focus on energy, water, emissions, and waste, our FY23 Corporate Environmental Sustainability Plan outlines the next step in our environmental commitments, as we set concrete and aspirational sustainability goals for our firm.
As an organization, we will continue to drive for increasingly ambitious environmental goals, and celebrate the successes of our firm, our colleagues, and our clients as we work together to achieve a more sustainable future.
Download our full 2023 Corporate Environmental Sustainability Plan here.