HITT Contracting Inc., the 33rd largest general contractor in the U.S. as ranked by ENR with 12 offices nationwide, announced its commitment to become carbon neutral by the year 2023. The company says in a statement that it has made the progressive decision to transition from carbon reliant to carbon neutral operations in response to numerous studies that project major societal and environmental impacts due to climate change.
“To achieve this goal, HITT is committed to understanding and tracking its operational greenhouse gas emissions, implementing organizational carbon reductions, and purchasing carbon offsets,” the statement said.
“Our industry is one of the single largest contributors to the world’s carbon emissions,” said CEO Kim Roy. “HITT has long been a leader in sustainability, starting in the late 1990s with the early adoption of the green building movement. The commitment to becoming carbon neutral is our next major investment in fighting climate change. Making the world a better place through our work is a core value that aligns with our clients and partners. It’s simply the right thing to do as a good corporate citizen.”
The statement says, in 2018 HITT began tracking carbon emissions to gather a baseline footprint of Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions and formally disclosed emissions to global non-profit CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project) in 2019. After discovering the company’s greenhouse gas emissions were equal to 19,173 MTCO2e (metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent), the general contractor was motivated to review organizational impacts and set carbon reduction targets.
HITT is committed to tracking Scope 1, 2, and 3 corporate emissions to identify and capitalize upon tangible opportunities for the organization to intentionally reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reviewing possibilities and presenting feasibility studies of reduction practices annually. As part of the strategy, HITT will purchase primarily U.S. based carbon offsets to invest in local communities where the firm operates. Purchasing carbon offsets in the U.S. market invests in renewable energy and forest preservation to help build a more resilient and less environmentally impactful infrastructure.
“Environmental stewardship is at the core of all we do. After tracking and understanding our greenhouse gas emissions, we could not ignore the effect our operations have on the environment,” said HITT’s sustainability director Isaiah Walston. “By reducing our carbon footprint and moving toward carbon neutrality, we can positively impact our workforce, clients, and society as a whole. We realize carbon neutrality is not zero carbon, but this is just the start. We are committed to taking further steps to reduce our emissions in the future,” said HITT’s Director of Sustainability Isaiah Walston.
