Skanska Receives USGBC 2010 Leadership Award

Skanska has been awarded the U.S. Green Building Council’s 2010 Leadership Award for the company’s vision, leadership and commitment in promoting the development of the design and construction of green projects. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), an independent environmental organization, annually recognizes individuals or organizations that work actively for green design and construction. Skanska has received the award in the category of Leadership in the private sector.

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“Skanska is a prime example of a company with worldwide reach that has successfully rethought its business model, incorporating environmental stewardship into its mission without compromising its international success,” said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO and Founding Chair, USGBC. “With a large portfolio of LEED certified and registered projects throughout the world, Skanska is helping transform the built environment.”

“It is a great honor to be selected for this prestigious award. Skanska is proud of its contributions to the green movement. As a company, we are committed to advancing green construction to new levels, increasing the number of green and LEED-certified projects in the US, Nordics, UK and Europe both in terms of new construction and refurbishment,” said Johan Karlstrãm, President and CEO Skanska. “We know that this is good business for us and for our clients, not to mention future generations.”

Skanska has implemented a large number of LEED-certified projects and all of the company’s own commercial development projects must achieve a minimum of LEED Gold certification. Skanska also initiates and undertakes Green refurbishment projects, of which the company’s U.S. office in the Empire State Building is an example. Globally, Skanska has about 500 LEED Accredited Professionals among its employees.

Skanska is listed in the Fortune 500 as one of the world’s leading companies in construction and project development. Skanska is a member of the UN Global Compact, a UN initiative to disseminate environmental know-how. Skanska, as a member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, co-authored and signed the Copenhagen Communiqué prior to the 2009 climate conference.

In 2000, Skanska was the first global construction company to be environmentally certified in accordance with ISO 14001. For several years, Skanska has been ranked as one of the leading green construction companies in the U.S. and this year was also named the greenest company in the UK.

The U.S. Green Building Council’s 2010 Leadership Award will be presented at the USGBC Greenbuild Conference in Chicago on November 17-19.