U.S. Green Building Council Hosts First CEO Roundtable

September 14, 2004
(San Francisco, CA)

On September 10th, the United States Green Building Council hosted its first CEO Roundtable at 101 Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C., directly across the street from the nation’s Capitol. Jim Gillette, Chairman & CEO of Swinerton Incorporated, the parent company of San Francisco-based Swinerton Builders, joined 74 other CEOs from throughout the country in a forum to share their results and business experiences in Green Building.

Moderated by Fortune magazine senior writer Shawn Tully, the gathering of American top executives examined four years of aggregate business case studies of the $6-billion emerging Green market. It was the unanimous sentiment of the executives that despite a 2% to 3% higher initial cost of construction to build Green, the return on investment was virtually immediate thanks to higher productivity of employees, along with significant energy savings.

Joining Gillette at the Roundtable were Art Gensler, Chairman of Gensler; Tim Carey, President & CEO of the Battery Park Development Authority; Ray Anderson, Chairman, Interface, Inc.; and executives from Bank of America, the GSA and East West Partners.

Swinerton was recently awarded Gold LEED-EB™ Certification by the USGBC for its corporate and regional headquarters building at 260 Townsend in San Francisco. LEED-EB™ is the USGBC designation for Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design for Existing Buildings and is the standard to measure Sustainable Design achievements such as sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation in design.

When Swinerton undertook the greening of 260 Townsend Street, Jim Gillette evaluated the success from bottom-line results. Today, his perspective of the benefits has widened. “Seeing our employees in the atmosphere of our new headquarters, with the abundant natural light and improved indoor air quality, everyone is happier,” Gillette stated. “There is a definite change. What we’ve provided for our people, a truly healthy environment, with no off-gassing of VOCs, has proven to be the greatest benefit of all.

At their Concord, CA facility, Swinerton installed photovoltaic panels that now generate 75% of the electricity used at the site. The company recently acquired a new regional headquarters building in Orange County and is currently installing photovoltaic panels at that location as well.

The Swinerton Green Team, with 38 LEED™ Accredited Professionals and more than 200 employees who have taken Green training courses, is an active advocacy group that works with design teams, project staffs, and estimating departments to provide practical, cost-effective Green solutions.

For more information on Swinerton’s Green Building initiatives, please visit: www.swinertongreen.com

For more information on the United States Green Building Council, please visit: www.usgbc.org

CONTACT:
Swinerton Incorporated
Mark Gudenas
415.617.1414
mgudenas@swinerton.com