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BUSINESS NEWS GLOBAL ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN FIRM, CORGAN, JOINS THE CLIMATE GROUP Global architecture and design firm Corgan has joined the Climate Group, a non-profit formed in 2003 to drive climate action by working with companies, governments, and other organizations with the power to reduce carbon emissions on a large scale. Corgan is now part of a coalition of 120 energy-smart businesses committed to accelerating energy efficiency. The Climate Group targets five industries - energy, transport, built environment and industry - that contribute the most to carbon emissions. As a part of the built environment industry, Corgan has an important role to play in reducing operational and embodied carbon, a key component in the fight against climate change. “The building industry accounts for more than 40 percent of annual global carbon emissions. As a top architecture firm, we have the opportunity and responsibility to leverage our research in sustainability and our design expertise to reduce operational and embodied carbon emissions in the built environment,” said Varun Kohli, Corgan’s Director of Sustainability and Principal. “Corgan has been working to reduce our environmental impact, be it in our operations or our design work. We love to collaborate with like-minded organizations to share knowledge and support each other for the greater good. We are excited to join the Climate Group’s EP100 and look forward to
working with our cohorts globally to advance our efforts to decarbonize the built environment.” Corgan formalized its sustainability practice, Echo, in 2022 with the ethos that sustainability is an echo of performance and that optimal performance cannot be achieved without considering the environmental impact of a project. Corgan-Echo supports the firm with expertise and resources to guide their projects and clients toward a more sustainable future. As a member of the Climate Group and part of its EP100 program, the firm is committed to improving its energy productivity to lower their emissions and improve their competitiveness. The mission of EP100 companies is to lower global energy demand and accelerate the clean energy transition. This commitment aligns with Corgan’s goal to be carbon neutral in 2025 as part of the World Green Building Council’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings initiative. In addition to the NZCB commitment, Corgan is also a signatory to the AIA 2030 Challenge, for which it records and shares performance data for its projects. Having established environmental sustainability as a core value for the firm, Corgan continues to work with their clients and assist them in creating a path to minimizing both operational and embodied carbon emissions while designing people centric projects. Before
the end of 2024, the firm will present its climate action plan and complete carbon accounting for Scopes One and Two of its global operations. The firm will also continue to push the boundaries of performance design and deliver decarbonization strategies and projects. An example of Corgan’s focus on sustainability and decarbonization is their design of Wells Fargo’s new net- positive campus in Irving, Texas. Net positive goes beyond meeting energy needs of the building, but generating excess renewable energy on-site than is required for building operations and adding that excess power back to the electricity grid. Learn more about Corgan’s sustainability expertise here. Corgan is an employee-owned architecture and design firm with 18 locations and nearly 1,000 team members globally. The firm, ranked as the No. 4 architecture firm by Building Design + Construction and No. 6 in Interior Design’s Giants, works with clients in a variety of sectors including aviation & mobility, data centers, education, health, mixed- use, multifamily, office, and workplace. Founded in 1938, Corgan has developed a strong reputation for agility in design by anticipating marketplace changes and leading clients to thoughtful, data- driven design solutions. Its research insights and design expertise empower the organization to foresee emerging changes and develop solutions that minimize risk, create flexibility, and maximize longevity.
example yourself. And you can promote those who do it to make examples out of them. Think about it! But better than that is to ACT on it. Mark Zweig is Zweig Group’s chairman and founder. Contact him at mzweig@zweiggroup.com. You can be sure the expectations are known. You can drop hints. You can be disappointed when people don’t step up. You can set a positive example yourself.” “You don’t need to be a jerk to expect more. You don’t need to yell or scream or threaten those who don’t do it.
MARK ZWEIG, from page 5
You see, the opportunity in business is never to just have a company that is viable and stays in business and provides a living for the owners. In the AEC business today where demand generally exceeds supply in most market sectors, you can be mediocre and do that. I don’t find “mediocrity and survival” very fun or interesting. It’s also not that rewarding. In my businesses, I’m going to push for more. Improvements in every single thing we do. Good enough is never good enough. It can always be better. And when it’s better for the owners, it is going to be better for every employee in the company. It’s just that simple. It all starts with YOUR expectations for your people. Are they high enough? Or are you letting everyone off the hook with lower expectations for them versus yourself? You don’t need to be a jerk or rude to expect more. You don’t need to yell or scream or threaten those who don’t do it. You can be sure the expectations are known. You can drop hints. You can be disappointed when people don’t step up. You can set a positive
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THE ZWEIG LETTER MAY 20, 2024, ISSUE 1538
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