Gilbane Building Company

Our Blueprint for Impact

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Our Vision

For over 150 years, Gilbane Building Company has built buildings and communities that enrich people’s lives.

As we look towards our next 150 years, we are committed to building a better future for our entire Gilbane family of employees, for the communities in which we live and work and beyond, and for the generations to come. Through an integrated environmental, social, and governance platform that leverages Gilbane’s resources, we challenge ourselves to continuously examine and improve our opportunity for impact. In keeping with our core value of Caring, we hold ourselves accountable to contributing to a global sustainable and inclusive future.

Adam R. Jelen

President & CEO of Gilbane Building Company

As a 154-year-old family-owned company, Gilbane has been driven by the purpose and commitment of our people. Family ownership has enabled Gilbane to stay true to its strong set of core values and to look at our business operations not just in terms of profit, but also how we can deliver a positive impact for our people, clients, and communities.

This report shares key updates and core commitments in social impact, environmental responsibility, and governance. While we continue to work towards our goals, we are excited to reflect on the progress made since launching our “Blueprint for Impact” in 2022. This program is woven into our vision for the company and is foundational to every aspect of how we do business, from our workplace culture to project delivery, our trade partnerships, and much more.

Thank you for your support as we work toward a sustainable and inclusive future.

Download the 2023
Gilbane Cares Report

Download

Our Blueprint for Impact

Sustainability

Gilbane’s commitment to sustainability is underpinned by our corporate social responsibility and core values. In our offices and on our projects, we are dedicated to eliminating waste, reducing pollution, promoting recycling, utilizing re-purposed materials, and increasing energy efficiency to reduce our carbon footprint. Managing Gilbane in a sustainable way goes beyond the realm of environmental impact; it also means being proactive and responsible for how we operate our offices, jobsites, and projects. We strive to implement safe practices and recognize how the projects we build and develop impact the environment and future generations. 

Download The Gilbane Cares Report

Building a Sustainable Future

We are committed to fostering healthy, safe and sustainable workplaces that support continuous learning. Establishing partnerships in the communities where we do business enables us to share our stewardship message, affect positive environmental change and raise environmental awareness. Through reducing the consumption of raw materials, water, and fuels we aim to minimize impacts on natural resources.

At Gilbane, we seek out suppliers who are also committed to reducing their carbon footprint through conservation of resources, practicing waste minimization techniques and maximizing local sourcing. 

Going Carbon Neutral

Gilbane is committed to utilizing our position and resources in the industry to influence both operations and construction projects to minimize carbon emissions. In addition, we aim to do our part by continuously enhancing our sourcing and procurement practices.

Committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2040.

At Gilbane Nothing Goes to Waste

We deploy strategies that reduce and eliminate waste in all that we do. We apply a Lean mindset to our business practices to eliminate anything that does not add value to our clients or our communities. 

Committed to sending zero waste to landfills by 2040.

Conserving Water and Protecting Its Quality

Gilbane seeks to reduce the use of potable water throughout all aspects of our operations, from within our offices to our construction projects.

Committed to reducing potable water use and consumption by 40% by 2040

Delivering Sustainable Building for our Clients

We are committed to sustainability in both our internal business practices and in the services we offer to our clients, with an overarching goal of eliminating waste, reducing pollution, promoting recycling, utilizing repurposed materials, and increasing energy efficiency to reduce our carbon footprint.

 #1 Green Educational Facilities  (Engineering News-Record 2021, 2022, and 2023) 

#5 Green Contractors in Sports, Entertainment, and Civic (Engineering News-Record 2021 and 2022) 

Top 10 Green Contractors  (Engineering News-Record 2022 and 2023)

 

Carbon Reduction through Material Selection

We deploy strategies for reducing carbon through smart building material selections, starting with life cycle assessments (LCAs) of building materials. 

Top 5 Site Assessment & Compliance Firm (Engineering News-Record 2023)

Blueprint for Impact

Social Impact

Since its founding, Gilbane has been driven by a singular purpose to help our clients and communities thrive. This commitment extends beyond the buildings we deliver. We believe Gilbane is a vibrant company because we invest in our people and our partners and support developing stronger communities. We commit ourselves to inclusionary practices that support belonging and promote the safety and well-being of those at Gilbane and throughout our industry. At the heart of our strategy is our commitment to social and community impact. We seek to harness our individual and collective resources to make the communities in which we live and work better for our families and neighbors.

Download The Gilbane Cares Report

Inclusion Commitment

Through our Gilbane Cares philosophy and Core Values, we work together to create an inclusive culture, work environment, and business model that leverages the capabilities of our diverse employee population, vendors, and trade contractors in order to deliver greater value for our employees, clients, and our communities.

Belonging

We believe an inclusive workforce that stimulates effectiveness, productivity, creativity, and innovation.

GIlbane’s employee resource groups (ERGs) are employee-led teams that create a space for people to problem-solve, innovate, develop, and showcase their leadership skills. All employees are welcomed to join any ERG.

Over 45% of team members participate in our employee resource groups.

Maximizing Community Impact & Engagement

Commitment to community engagement today means a more equitable, robust construction landscape tomorrow. Gilbane seeks to maximize participation by diverse and small businesses and to have a diverse, local workforce on our construction projects.

Committed to generating $4 billion in awards to minority-, women-, disadvantaged, LGBTBE, and veteran-owned businesses over the next five years (2022-2026).

Inclusion

We recognize that our industry stands to make the most progress when we work together to pool resources, champion change, and take bold steps to achieve common goals.

Our Approach to Safety

Gilbane Cares is our cornerstone commitment to safety – ensuring our people, partners, and communities are protected. We believe that a holistic approach to safety – focusing on physical and mental health – are critical to safeguarding our people.

96% of our projects had zero lost time injuries in 2022.

Giving Back

Through the generosity of our people, we’re giving back to our communities and helping to support many urgent needs. From helping to fight hunger, educating young people, supporting wellness and the pursuit of lifesaving cures, and so much more, our people are deeply committed to being a force for good.

100% company match (doubling company commitment to match employee donations)

Building a Sustainable Future

We are committed to fostering healthy, safe and sustainable workplaces that support continuous learning. Establishing partnerships in the communities where we do business enables us to share our stewardship message, affect positive environmental change and raise environmental awareness. Through reducing the consumption of raw materials, water, and fuels we aim to minimize impacts on natural resources.

At Gilbane, we seek out suppliers who are also committed to reducing their carbon footprint through conservation of resources, practicing waste minimization techniques and maximizing local sourcing. 

Blueprint for Impact

Governance

We are committed to conducting our business honestly and fairly, in compliance with laws and regulations applicable to our business. We are guided by our core values, Code of Ethics, and policies and procedures. Our corporate governance structure of Board of Directors ensures the highest business standards possible. We are proud of the guidance our Board provides in promoting ethical standards and a unified, consistent approach that honors our core value of integrity.

Download The Gilbane Cares Report

Governance at Gilbane

Every employee should be treated with respect, dignity, and courtesy. Gilbane is committed to providing its employees with work environments that are free from inappropriate behavior, discrimination, harassment, and unlawful workplace practices. Likewise, through our Code of Ethics, we establish clear expectations and standards for our employees’ ethical behavior in a manner that reflects our Core Value of Integrity.

We believe that it is equally important for our partners, subcontractors, and vendors to understand our requirements, and that they follow the highest ethical standards outlined in our Supplier Code of Conduct. We have also established a system of checks and balances to manage our operations and to ensure compliance with our standards. Ultimately, our goal is to safeguard our employees, clients, partners, assets, and operations while ensuring the highest quality of service.

Board of Directors

Gilbane’s Board of Directors plays a critical role in our corporate governance structure, ensuring adherence to the highest business standards. Our Board includes world-class, independent directors whose extensive expertise enables us to support our employees, clients, and shareholders.

The Board embodies our Core Values and provides oversight and guidance to promote a strong ethical standard and a unified “One Company” approach in everything we do.

Audit and Accountability

Gilbane is committed to objective oversight of compliance and accountability through our Ethics and Compliance Program. The Audit, Ethics and Safety Committee consists of outside Board members who inform the framework of Gilbane’s Internal Audit Department.

One of their main objectives is bringing a systematic and disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of Gilbane’s risk management, governance, and
internal controls.

Ethics, Compliance, and Trainings

Gilbane’s workplace compliance trainings are designed to help employees understand the company’s standards and expectations so that we can operate at an optimal level. Workplace laws and regulations constantly evolve; therefore it is critically important to keep up to date with trainings.

100% of employees completed ethics and training by end of 2023

Risk Management and Operational Excellence

Our transparent approach to risk management focuses on operational excellence and customer advocacy in an innovative and constantly changing business environment. Gilbane is committed to the execution of our “One Company” vision, strategy, and business plan with an effective risk mitigation plan.

Resiliency through Cybersecurity

Gilbane considers the privacy and security of its clients, partners, and employees as paramount. We have adopted and implemented security practices designed to protect the confidentiality and integrity of our clients’ and partners’ information.

Gilbane follows a risk reduction strategy by deploying cybersecurity safeguards in technical, operational, and policy environments, even as we adopt and implement new technologies to gain new efficiencies and cost savings for our customer community.

Investing in Our People

The heart of Gilbane is our people. Since our founding, every project, innovation and important milestone has been made possible through investing in our people. For two decades, our award-winning Gilbane University (GU) has provided our employees with targeted skill building and development.