ESG Score for A/E design firms

Dave Hubka

Practice Leader - Sustainability

EUA

LEEDuser Expert

510 thumbs up

July 29, 2024

Hello,

All my experience with sustainability has been at the building-level. We are currently being asked within an RFP to list our firm's ESG score and certifying organization. Our firm is about 300-employees and is owned soley by the employees.

When do A/E firms obtain an ESG score?

is it based on company size? or external investors? customers requiring ESG score?

Thanks for any insight you can share!!

Post a reply

Catherine Callaway

Director of Sustainability & Building Performance

Kirksey

LEEDuser Premium Member

1 thumbs up

Tue, 07/30/2024 - 17:03

Interesting requirement for an RFP! We have not gone through a formal third party ESG review process; however, one of our clients recently asked us to complete an assessment by EcoVadis. https://ecovadis.com/suppliers/

Peter Nobile

Senior Architect

Bergmeyer

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Thu, 08/01/2024 - 14:10

We went through a process recently with Supplier Assurance (https://supplierassurance.com/)...my sense is these things are a bit of a blunt insturment and not really geared up yet for the service industry, but the game is changing quickly and I'll bet these ESG or SAQ scores are going to become the equivalent of a college/university "Common Application" that clients can check out when putting together their RFP/RFQ lists.

Dave Hubka

Practice Leader - Sustainability

EUA

LEEDuser Expert

510 thumbs up

Fri, 08/02/2024 - 13:18

Thanks Catherine and Peter for your posts, and the links! Asking around, the general feedback I have received from the A/E design firms is "we will not pursue an ESG score but rather commit to AIA 2030, A&D Materials Pledge, SE 2050, etc." One of my contacts works for an A/E firm with a construction division. They work globally, have tens of thousands of employees, and have multi-billions in annual revenue. They have an ESG score and a dedicated internal team that obtains the info, applies for the score, and promotes internally/externally. Hence "global, +10,000 employees, +$Billion" seems the be some thresholds of when we might consider to obtain an ESG score. thanks again!