An active member of the U.S. Green Building Council since 1999, DPR has had a long interest in sustainable design and construction. What started as a grassroots movement has grown to a company-wide commitment exemplified by DPR’s more than 120 LEED® Accredited Professionals (APs) and 400+ LEED-trained staff available for projects across the nation. Currently, according to Building Design & Construction magazine, DPR even leads the general contractors in the nation with the highest percentage of LEED APs on staff.

In 2001, DPR decided to take its commitment to sustainable design and construction to the next level, building a green office building to serve as the company’s Sacramento, CA, regional headquarters. As the first LEED certified building in California’s Central Valley, the 53,000-sq.-ft. building achieved Silver LEED certification for new construction and Gold LEED certification for commercial interiors, has welcomed more than 50 touring organizations and was recognized in 2004 with one of California’s highest and most prestigious environmental honors—the Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Awards (GEELA). Coupled with the eight recently completed sustainable and LEED registered/certified projects executed by DPR teams nationwide, including the first in San Diego and the USGBC’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., DPR has already made its mark as a leader in the green building arena.

Championed by DPR’s “Green Gurus,” a national group of green building experts, DPR’s environmental responsibility efforts have become a seamless part of doing business both inside the office and out on the jobsite. Though no other office can boast waterless urinals or recycled countertops like the Sacramento building, nationally, each office has implemented a stringent recycling and waste-diversion program, a jobsite indoor air-quality management plan and is utilizing On-Screen Takeoff® for preconstruction, which helps reduce consumption of blueprints by nearly two-thirds. In addition, DPR continues to work with customers to pursue high performance, energy efficient solutions for all projects, not just LEED registered projects targeting certification.

As part of DPR’s Camp 2010, DPR also has challenged itself to add to its proven track record of being environmentally responsible in the way it does business.