TORONTO (Sept 27, 2018) Green Standards and our team of environmental stewards proudly congratulates its leader, Trevor Langdon, for being recognized as the 2019 Clean16 leader in the “Primary Resources” category of Canada’s Clean50 Awards.
Canada’s Clean50 are announced annually by Delta Management Group and the Clean50 organization to recognize those 50 individuals or small teams, from 16 different categories, who have done the most to advance the cause of sustainability and clean capitalism in Canada over the past 2 years.
Trevor was chosen after rigourous screening and research by Delta Management, with advice from internal researchers and external advisors, and was among Honourees selected from an initial pool of approximately 600 well qualified nominees.
Gavin Pitchford, CEO of Delta Management
“The Clean50 come from such a broad array of backgrounds, such that only a few individuals are able to be recognized within any given category. To receive a Clean50 award is truly indicative of both industry and personal leadership in the Primary Resources category” he continues.
Delta’s criteria in determining Honourees is to carefully consider actual measurable accomplishments, demonstrated innovation, collaboration with other organizations, and the power of the Honouree’s contribution to inspire other Canadians to take similar action.
In this case, Trevor’s contribution is being recognized in the Clean50 and Clean16 for his work and partnership with OMERS to turn nearly 500 tons of surplus office furniture into donations for 18 Toronto based non-profits, while diverting 99% of their inventory from landfill in the process.
According to Gavin, “The 2019 Clean16 are truly the leaders of the leaders in sustainability in Canada. The competition for the top spot this year in every instance left us with many great choices – and to be selected from amongst such a strong group of peers is truly a testament to the contribution Trevor has made to helping make Canada more sustainable for all Canadians.”
OMERS was consolidating 3 offices into a single newly constructed tower. As part of the transition, they partnered with Trevor and Green Standards to responsibly decommission 400,000 square feet of office space, to ensure excess furniture and equipment would be kept out of landfill and channeled into local communities.
Sustainability has long been an important element within both Oxford and OMERS and it’s part of our bigger corporate social responsibility, not just to the broader community but to the 480,000 people that rely on us to pay pensions. Being able to reuse our furniture, particularly for worthy causes, was a very important consideration for us.
Andrew McAllan, Head of Real Estate Management, OMERS/Oxford Properties
OMERS’ project is just one Toronto based example of the corporate sustainability initiatives led by Trevor and Green Standards in recent years. In 2017, Green Standards turned 8,500 tons of unwanted furniture and equipment into $2.5 million worth of in-kind donations to more than 400 non-profits and community organizations across North America.
Already in 2018, Green Standards have nearly reached last year’s tons diverted totals and have surpassed 2017 milestones in a number of measurable categories. Most notably, just half way through the year we’ve made in-kind donations worth $3.4 million dollars to 609 non-profits throughout the continent.
Innovation
A Circular Economy-Inspired Office Solution
When a corporation empties or renovates an office space, much of the interior assets – supplies, appliances, computers – end up in the landfill. This prematurely ends the life cycle of valuable resources and produces greenhouse gases over time.
By combining donation, resale, and recycling strategies with turnkey project management, Green Standards with Trevor’s leadership, maximizes asset recovery, streamlines community donation, and virtually eliminates waste across all projects, including OMERS’ recent move.
Green Standards takes responsibility for the entire process, including the dismantling, removal and relocation of each item, and coordination between the movers, buyers, local non-profits and specialized recyclers. It also provides documentation and in-depth environmental and social impact reporting to help OMERS capture and review the outcome of their project.
“As companies have seen a need to be more transparent and responsible with their decommission projects, we’ve seen the demand for our process grow significantly,” Trevor explains.
Through innovative strategies and diligent planning, we’ve made our project costs equal to or less than conventional landfill disposal, making for a true triple bottom line solution.
Where conventional solutions (liquidators and movers) produce an alarming amount of waste, Green Standards generates value for businesses, local communities, and the environment.
Results & Achievements
Trevor Langdon, Green Standards in Partnership with OMERS – Clean50 winners.
- 400,000 Square Feet of Corporate Real-Estate
- 3 Buildings across 16 Floors
- 1,400+ Employees on the move
- Cost-competitive to conventional solutions
- 99% Landfill Diversion rate (497 tons)
- 940 metric tons of CO2e offset
- $98,615 worth of In-Kind Donations to Non-Profits
- 18 Toronto based beneficiaries received donations
The circular economy story that we provide to our clients throughout our decommissions is the added value and one of the main reasons we’ve been recognized by PROFIT 500 in 2017 and Growth 500 in 2018 ranking 147 out of 500 among Canada’s Fastest-Growing Businesses with a 5-year revenue growth of 596%.
In addition to the Clean50/Clean16 designations, the OMERS project, Trevor and the Green Standards team will receive a Green Apple Award for Environmental Best Practice from The Green Organisation in 2018.
“The cumulative accomplishments of Canada’s Clean16 over the past 2 years adds up to a very big number. All Canadians should be grateful for the leadership these individuals have shown – and for the support that their organizations have provided.“ – Gavin Pitchford
Trevor will be amongst approximately 120 past and incoming Clean50 Honourees meeting on Thursday September 27th at the “Clean50 Summit 8.0” in Toronto, to spend a day amongst peers and colleagues tackling critical sustainability challenges facing Canada.
About
About Trevor Langdon / Canada’s Clean16 Award Winner
Trevor leads a team of environmental stewards to the sustainable decommissions of 10 million square feet of office space annually, reducing CO2e by more than 152,000 tonnes on corporate real estate projects. The circular economy-inspired office solution has diverted 45,000+ tons of workplace furniture and equipment from landfill (a 98.6% landfill diversion rate) and generated over $25 million worth of in-kind donations to 4500+ non-profits and charitable organizations in Canada and the US. It is this innovative approach to corporate waste that has kept thousands of items in use and generated value for businesses, communities and the environment.
About Delta Management Group / Canada’s Clean50:
Leading sustainability and clean tech search firm Delta Management Group in 2011 founded, and remains the steward of Canada’s Clean50 awards, created to annually identify, recognize and connect 50 sustainability leaders from every sector of Canadian endeavor, in order to facilitate understanding, collaboration and innovation in the fight to keep climate change impacts below 1.5 degrees. Ancillary awards also recognize 10 Emerging Leaders and the Top 20 Sustainability Projects of the year.
Media Contact: Gavin Pitchford, 416-925-2005 x 2300 / gpitchford@deltamanagement.com
About Green Standards
Capturing Value In Workplace Change
Green Standards has spent the last decade developing rigorous practices and global networks that deliver optimal value from workplace decommissioning. Our enterprise program measures and maximizes ESG performance while virtually eliminating landfill waste. A partner to the world’s largest organizations, Green Standards enables the efficient and ethical redistribution of furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E) during times of workplace change.
Media Contact: Marc Borins, 1-855-632-8036
