Greenest Company Occupying Space it Commissioned: Crossland Construction Co., Rogers

Crossland Construction’s Northwest Arkansas team has only begun its push for a more sustainable work environment.

The 24 employees in the company’s Arkansas headquarters, located in the 73,000-SF building it commissioned and constructed in Rogers, already incorporate many green habits into their daily routines.

As part of the company’s push to eliminate the use of Styrofoam, employees are encouraged to bring their own coffee mugs.

The break room has recycling bins to collect aluminum, glass, cardboard and plastic and each office trashcan is equipped with a paper container to collect paper for recycling.

All offices have automated lighting controls with motion, sound and infrared sensors that turn off the lights when someone leaves the room. The building’s predominate glass exterior allows many employees to use natural light instead of overhead lighting and the office’s heating and air conditioning is controlled automatically, shutting off at night and on the weekends.

Chris Schnurbusch, a LEED AP and division manager for Crossland, said the company has already laid plans for additional green initiatives.

“As our awareness of the economic and environmental impacts of our business increase, our efforts to make improvements also increase,” said Christopher Crossland, vice president. “We feel that we have a tremendous opportunity to make a lasting impact on the environment and are committed to do so.” 

The company will soon begin collecting data on its energy usage, gas consumption and mileage. The data will be used to set five-year benchmarks with the end goal of reducing fuel and energy usage by its Northwest Arkansas employees by as much as one-quarter by mid-2013.

One of the company’s major green steps is the addition of six Honda Civic hybrids to its vehicle fleet.

Crossland employees, both in the office and on the job site, have taken 48 hours of LEED education courses. The courses educate employees on green habits, technologies and building techniques.

In the coming months many parts of the office will be retrofitted with green fixtures and appliances, and the building’s landscaping will be replaced with vegetation that has lower irrigation needs.

Crossland hopes to have its office LEED certified within the next six months and some of the building’s other tenants plan to follow suit.

(See more of the greenest offices in Northwest Arkansas by clicking here.)