Sustainability

Across all market sectors of our business we are committed to environmental stewardship. We recognize our responsibility to uphold and advance design ideas of energy and water use efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and resource stewardship in the design, use and maintenance of the built environment. Our expertise in life-cycle cost analysis and energy conservation analysis, coupled with our familiarity of current materials and technologies, enables us to help our clients determine the most appropriate design and cost-effective construction options.

Our experienced Sustainable Design professionals apply sustainability principles to your project to improve operational efficiencies, reduce operating costs, and promote environmental conservation without adversely impacting budget.

PlanBeyond – a Jacobs Differentiator

Building on Jacobs’ BeyondZero and our culture of caring, PlanBeyond helps us to focus on looking beyond our company and to how we contribute as a global corporate citizen. Our sustainability activities touch many stakeholders such as: our clients, our people and wider communities, our supply chain partners and our investors. Our aspiration is to be recognized as a company that pushes the boundaries of sustainability. By planning beyond compliance and embracing the opportunities to deliver business in a more sustainable manner, we attain that goal.

Sustainability in Design

Understanding that the places we design and occupy represent the largest sources of fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions, Jacobs signed on to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) 2030 Commitment in 2010. This initiative sets forth the standards to reduce the environmental impact of architectural firms and the projects they design. We believe that altering our profession’s practices and encouraging our clients and the overall design and construction industry to join us is necessary to realize significant reductions in the use of natural resources, non-renewable energy sources, and waste production.

Starting in 2020, we achieved 100% renewable electricity for our operations and carbon neutrality1 for our operations and business travel, and we continue to maintain these commitments. Across the company we have over 500 LEED APs, and 16 WELL APs currently. These design professionals help our teams to integrate sustainability requirements applicable to each project. We have over 400 subject matter experts providing low- and zero-carbon related services, and over 16,000 practitioners across our water, environment, energy markets.

Sustainability+

Jacobs Sustainability+ is a practice for gathering our ideas for enhancing the sustainability of projects and related services we perform for our clients. It encourages better delivery against client’s sustainability objectives and expectations and helps to build stronger client relationships. It supports Jacobs’ corporate approach to sustainability.

Innovation and Best Practices

Our commitment and expertise in sustainable design and best practices helps our clients achieve real innovation and project success. As an integral part of our practice, sustainability is embedded into our decision-making process to assure proper planning and vetting so that you have a range of choices with a positive impact on the project. Our strategy is enabled by five guiding pillars:

  1. Reducing energy needs
  2. Increasing building efficiency
  3. Exploring alternative energies
  4. Optimizing waste recovery
  5. Enhancing occupant comfort and health

Sustainability Services

In addition to high-caliber architectural and engineering services, we provide these energy-related services:

  • Facility Benchmark Energy Audits
  • Facility Detailed Energy Audits
  • System Energy Audits
  • Economic Analysis
  • Tax Incentive Identification
  • Economic Sensitivity Analysis
  • Risk Mitigation
  • ENERGY STAR credits
  • Certifications (e.g. LEED®, BREEAM®, Fitwel®, GreenGlobes® and WELL)
  • Guide the Process (“LEED® Administrator” or “BREEAM® Assessor”)
  • Design in compliance with protocol requirements
  • Energy model simulation with Energy plus/Design Build
  • Execute LEED® Commissioning (“Commissioning Authority”)
  • Environmental Management System on construction – ISO 14001 certification
  • Energy optimization (integration with building envelope, energy recovery, Co-generation, integrating renewables, etc.)
  • Comfort design (thermal comfort, lighting design, space planning, etc.)

Safety in Design

At Jacobs, we understand design management is more than just establishing an appropriate structure to support the timely and efficient delivery of the design. We believe that, as the coach of the team or the conductor of the orchestra, the Design Manager’s main, and often underrated, function is to facilitate and balance the performance of the consultants as a team. It is not about the soloist, but about the overall orchestra, and the audience experience.

To achieve this, the Design Manager needs to create a working environment where communication flows freely and where everyone’s input is valued. An environment where everyone feels project ownership and pride in delivery. This mindset leads to positive project outcomes that exceed the mere sum of the team members’ isolated project and contractual commitments, and it is the cornerstone of our Safety Philosophy.

Our processes are practical and designed to ensure all employees and project stakeholders are actively engaged in the execution of our projects and feel a sense of ownership, feel empowered to act on HSE Issues and embrace our BeyondZero® culture.

Jacobs leads the global professional services sector providing solutions for a more connected, sustainable world. jacobs.com