PCL Construction Leaders

PCL is the sixth largest general contractor in the US, and the largest in Canada. Privately owned by its employees, it is listed by Fortune Magazine as one of America’s 100 Best Companies to Work For. To further its social commitments and positive work culture, PCL is seeking a broad sustainability impact assessment of the company’s office and construction operations, and to reduce its environmental impact by developing a strategic plan to operate more efficiently. The impact areas will include waste, water, energy and greenhouse gas emissions from building operations and construction activities. Because the construction industry is known to have a large environmental impact, by undertaking this comprehensive assessment and implementation plan, PCL hopes to set an example for industry-wide best practices.

YR&G Role

YR&G is leading PCL’s sustainability efforts. After conducting research of industry-wide practices, YR&G will work directly with PCL’s staff to develop the company’s environmental impact assessment model and deliver a pilot environmental impact survey to five of the company’s 27 districts in North America. The pilot survey will outline the company’s impact from different areas of its operations and well as from different areas of concern related to sustainability (energy, water, waste, etc.). YR&G will recommend specific environmental metrics to track across the company in the short and long-term. These metrics will be analyzed to develop a series of sustainability initiatives/best practices as standard operating procedure across the company. Once the above steps are complete, YR&G will help the Client establish ongoing performance tracking, data collection, and reporting.

Highlights include:

• Systems and software for collecting and managing data (e.g. web-based information) and reporting capabilities
• A data tracking structure that indicates parties responsible for ongoing tracking, as well as well as a schedule for data maintenance