Mark DiNapoli, Suffolk Construction
Today's leading design and construction firms are fighting a battle for survival to differentiate their green services and be a part of the climate solution. The McGraw Hill Green Outlook 2011 report states: "Once an emerging trend or a niche sector, green building has become a significant part of today's construction industry and is expected to keep growing." In addition, the building industry is responsible for nearly half of U.S. CO2 emissions and this number is only expected to grow (EIA, USGBC).
Mark DiNapoli, president/GM of Suffolk Construction's northeast region, said, "At Suffolk, we are proud of our commitment to be a green, environmentally-conscious company that will set a new standard in sustainability for the construction industry. We are confident that working with SPI will help ensure we meet our ambitious sustainability goals and demonstrate how we continue to build smart. Once achieved, Suffolk's SPI Certification will raise the visibility of our corporate green initiatives and position Suffolk as leader in instituting environmentally-friendly business practices."
SPI Certification provides a roadmap for continuous improvement to help firms understand, set and monitor their sustainability goals. Certification offers differentiation and metrics to evaluate claims of sustainability. It addresses recognized standards and certifications such as LEED, Living Building Challenge, and Architecture 2030, but goes beyond these specific guidelines to look at overall organizational capacity.
Some firms have completely institutionalized sustainable approaches and simply benefit from third-party validation; others are just beginning their sustainability efforts; most are somewhere between and need to understand and address their gaps. Wherever a firm falls on this spectrum, SPI Certification provides a roadmap to ever-higher levels of quality.