Sustainability

We develop and build responsibly.
We seek low-carbon solutions.
We build for the future, today.

Our longtime leadership in sustainable construction and development provides us with the expertise to help our customers deliver on their leading edge environmental and healthy building ambitions. By leveraging our national and international experience, we can efficiently use natural resources and be a better neighbor in our communities. Sustainable, healthy building is good business and critical to protecting our planet and the health and wellbeing of end users.

Leadership

The built environment accounts for nearly 40 percent of carbon emissions globally, with 11 percent embodied in construction materials and 28 percent stemming from building operations. As a company that cares for life, we recognize the current climate crisis and, more importantly, the responsibility of our industry to take action. Skanska is leading the charge and has set an ambitious target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 in our own operations and across our entire value chain.

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Sustainability Timeline

Skanska USA co-creates AGC task force to spearhead decarbonization efforts in construction

LaGuardia Terminal B retains its LEED v4 Gold Certification and the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure’s Platinum Envision award.

For the second year in a row, Skanska is named a “Climate Leader” in Europe by Financial Times

Moynihan Train Hall becomes the first building worldwide to qualify for certification under the new LEED for Transit rating system

Skanska is named a “Climate Leader” in Europe as the result of a join initiative between the Financial Times and the data insight company Statista.

Skanska USA named winner of 2021 Procore Groundbreaker award “Excellence in Sustainability”

Skanska USA Building expands embodied carbon assessments to projects nationwide

The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design is awarded Living Building Challenge certification, the world’s most ambitious and holistic green building achievement.

Skanska signs on as signatory to America Is All In, reaffirming our commitment to address climate change.

10.

Skanska ranked #17 on Fortune’s annual “Change the World” list, moving three spots up from our #20 position the previous year.

11.

LaGuardia Terminal B is awarded Envision Platinum v3 (first airport in the world certified to this standard).
Skanska Commercial Development’s Bank of America Tower is the first building in the U.S.—and third in the world—to achieve LEED® v4 Platinum Core & Shell certification.

12.

The group-wide carbon reduction target is announced: net zero emissions by 2045 with a 70 percent reduction by 2030.
Skanska signs on to the Exponential Roadmap, supporting the development of the 1.5ºC Business Playbook.
Skanska launches two tools to empower energy-efficient building choices: Insight—which identifies and ranks potential operational carbon—and the EC3 tool—which captures a building’s embodied carbon.

13.

Skanska becomes a Fitwel Champion, applying the Fitwel standard at scale across our own portfolio of development projects in the design phase.
Skanska ranked #20 on Fortune’s annual “Change the World” list.
Skanska becomes a WELL Keystone member.

14.

Skanska joins the Paris Solutions Campaign.
Gulf State Park Interpretative Center in Gulf Shores, Alabama achieves rigorous Living Building certification.

15.

Skanska signs “We Are Still In,” committing to the goals of the Paris Climate Accord.

16.

In Los Angeles, California, Exposition Light Rail Transit Phase 2 is the first transit project in the U.S. to receive Envision Platinum certification.
Skanska is recognized for climate reporting, receiving recognition on the Climate A List for the first time.

17.

Elizabeth River Tunnels is named the winner of the Virginia Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award.

18.

Stone34, Skanska’s first completed commercial development project in Seattle, achieves LEED Platinum and is the first building to pursue the City of Seattle’s Living Building Challenge Pilot Program.
Skanska joins the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure as a Charter Member, supporting the development of the Envision rating system.

19.

Skanska’s Beth Heider is elected Chair of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

20.

Skanska completes the Bertschi School Science Classroom, one of the first projects in the world to achieve the Living Building Challenge v2.0™ criteria (officially certified in 2013).

21.

Skanska receives the USGBC Leadership award.
Skanska publicly discloses group carbon emissions to the Carbon Disclosure Project.

22.

Skanska’s Empire State Building office achieves LEED Platinum for commercial interiors, saving thousands of dollars annually in operating costs. This space remains one of the top energy performers in the building.
Skanska USA Commercial Development launches. Their first project,10th and G, in Washington D.C. is certified to LEED Gold (v2 Core & Shell) three years later in July 2012.

23.

Skanska participates in the Living Building Financial Study, led by SERA Architects.

24.

Skanska completes the first LEED Gold hospital in the U.S.: Providence Newberg Medical Center.

25.

The Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations launches, listing Skanska as its sole construction representative.
Boston Logan International Airport Terminal A becomes the first LEED certified airport terminal in the world.

26.

Skanska publishes its first sustainability report.

27.

Skanska completes their first LEED Silver project in the U.S.: the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Computer Center in Durham, North Carolina.

28.

All Skanska operations around the world are ISO 14001 certified.
Skanska becomes a member of the USGBC, the year the LEED® rating system is launched.

29.

Skanska is listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

30.

Skanska launches its Environmental Policy.

31.

Skanska publishes its first Environmental Report.

Commitment

Skanska has been a pioneering member of the sustainable construction and development community for over 20 years. We partner with organizations seeking to transform the industry, and we are active participants in researching and deploying sustainable construction practices.

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The Skanska team participates in technical advisory groups across all the different organizations that certify projects:

Results

In order to reduce the amount of carbon we’re putting into the atmosphere and to help combat climate change on a global level, we have made sustainable building a priority. In our USA Building and USA Civil operations, we are recognized as industry leaders in sustainable construction practices. Our development projects integrate sustainability into each stage of the process, from land acquisition to building operations. We are increasingly focused on optimizing building design to minimize both embodied and operational carbon.

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