LEEDing the Way

The July issue of Building Design and Construction magazine includes a new list of architects, engineers, and contractors, ranked in order of the total number of LEED accredited staff members. TRO JungBrannen is ranked #66, with 102 LEED accredited professionals (APs).

Like most such lists, this one requires some examination. First, the firms with the most personnel will obviously dominate the ranking, even though they may be only marginally committed to sustainable design and construction. Second, the list was based on data assembled several weeks ago, and reflected our staffing as of April 24. Today we have 119 LEED APs, with more expected shortly. Finally, this list compares apples, oranges, and pears in the sense that architects are mixed in with contractors and engineering firms. For example, I see little value in comparing ourselves to an engineering giant like AECOM Technology Corporation, ranked #7, with 413 LEED APs. As noted above, that sounds good until you realize that the figure of 413 represents less than 1% of their total staff of 43,000. Similarly, URS Corporation has over 51,000 employees, but less than ½ of 1% are LEED accredited. By comparison, TRO Jung|Brannen now has 50% of our total staff accredited, and nearly two-thirds of our professional staff – a distinction held by only six other firms on the list of two hundred!

While this list certainly has value and is well-intentioned, I believe that it would be more useful, for example, if architects were compared only to other architects; and, the ranking would have been more meaningful if it were based on the percentage of LEED APs to overall staff – a better reflection of a firm’s sustainable design commitment. Viewed from this perspective, It is noteworthy that TRO Jung|Brannen now appears to have the highest number of LEED APs of all New England architectural, interior design, and engineering firms who have their headquarters in Boston; and, we enjoy one of the highest ratios of LEED APs to total staff when compared to the other large design firms throughout the country.

I am enormously proud of our leadership position in sustainable design and look forward to fulfilling our internal goal of 100% LEED accreditation for all of our professional staff.