USGBC California Acquires the Contractor’s Commitment from Green Commons

USGBC California has announced that it is assuming ownership and management of the Contractor’s Commitment to Sustainable Building Practices, the premier program for leaders in green commercial construction to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability and improve their initiatives over time. The Contractor’s Commitment has been under the auspices of Green Commons’ Sustainable Construction Leaders Peer Network. Its acquisition by USGBC California provides a platform for fully operationalizing its growth.

Created by contractors for contractors, the Contractor’s Commitment offers a smart way to both get started and to measure a company’s ongoing progress in sustainability. The five Areas of Impact offer these core goals:

• Carbon reduction – outline practices that General Contractors can implement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (“carbon”) from their construction activities and corporate operations, to advocate for greenhouse gas reductions by their partners and suppliers
• Jobsite wellness – ensure the wellness of a contractor’s employees
• Waste management – outline steps to minimize construction and demolition waste and maximize waste diversion
• Water management – promote responsible use of water
• Materials – outline steps General Contractors can take to advance the use of healthy and sustainable materials on projects, understanding their varying levels of influence with materials.

The Contractor’s Commitment was cited in Engineering News-Record’s introduction to its Top 100 Contractors List. It informed the development of new credits in LEED version 5. It has meaningfully influenced the sustainability programs of many construction companies and is frequently referenced in their ESG reporting

USGBC California will be launching a new web presence and content for the Contractor’s Commitment, based on industry feedback, and including increased connection to training, workforce development, education, data collection, industry recognition and more.

For more information, visit ContractorsCommitment.org. For inquiries to participate, please reach out to Pars Parikh, pars@usgbc-ca.org.