Addressing Climate Change Is the Moral and Business Imperative of Our Time
University of Hawaii, Academy for Creative Media, O'ahu
Now is the time to prepare for a resilient future.
A recent study by the Gensler Research Institute found that 72% of adults in the U.S. believe that climate change is an urgent issue, but only 18% feel as though their communities are prepared to tackle it. Design resilience strategies offer a clear roadmap for how to prepare and take action against the worst effects of climate change, including the impact it will have on business, human health and wellbeing, and issues of equity. Gensler is committed to a net zero future for our clients, our communities, and our industry.
Leading the Industry Toward Net Zero
We touch over 1.25 billion square feet every year. We are leading the industry to change the industry.
Desert Harbor, Las Vegas
The Gensler Cities Climate Challenge (GC3)
Environmental stewardship is at the core of our brand, and GC3 — or the Gensler Cities Climate Challenge — is our roadmap for how we intend to help our clients reach their carbon targets and our goal of making every building in our portfolio net zero carbon.
5 STRATEGIES TO NET ZERO CARBON
How We Help Clients
Gensler offers sustainable consulting services and strategies for every type and scale of project.
Converge West Falls, Falls Church, Virgina
Climate Action & Sustainability Practice Area
We offer sustainability consulting services and strategies for developers, building owners, and tenants who want and need to minimize their operational and embodied carbon for new or reused buildings.
Performance Assessment & Analytics
We provide insights and analytics so that clients can understand their carbon impact, energy consumption, performance, and ESG goals.
Certification Services
We advise and assist clients looking to achieve third-party certifications such as LEED, Fitwel, ILFI Zero, and BREEAM.
Sustainability Strategies
We help clients identify environmental and climate-related goals and develop climate action plans.
SUSTAINABILITY PROJECTS
84 Items
Springdale Green
Austin, Texas
Located on the site of a former brownfield, the reimagined Springdale Green campus...
Morning Consult
Washington, D.C.
Morning Consult’s new LEED-Certified headquarters creates a three-dimensional brand...
San Francisco International Airport, T1 Net Zero Program
San Francisco, California
San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has set the goal of becoming the first...
Frisco Public Library
Frisco, Texas
This beautiful adaptive reuse project gives new life to a structure that once...
CSULB Parkside North Residence Hall and Housing Administration Building
Long Beach, California
California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) enlisted Gensler’s climate and...
The Link
Denver, Colorado
By transforming an underutilized former telecom building into a modern, amenity-rich...
Tipner West
Portsmouth, United Kingdom
The most ambitious expansion to the city of Portsmouth in over a century, Tipner...
90 Long Acre
London, United Kingdom
When Gensler approached the repositioning of a unique but obsolete Brutalist building...
Torre Universal Sustainability
San José, Costa Rica
Torre Universal, a modern, class A+ corporate office and retail center in San José...
The IIBC — Imperial International Business City
Lagos, Nigeria
Africa’s first smart-eco city, The IIBC — Imperial International Business City — is a...
Café Britt Headquarters
Heredia, Costa Rica
As the leading coffee producer of organic shade-grown coffee in Costa Rica, Café Britt...
Viettel Group Headquarters
Hanoi, Vietnam
Viettel Group’s new headquarters marks a new ideal for the corporate world with an...
First United Bank
Fredericksburg, Texas
The first full mass timber project in Texas, First United Bank in Fredericksburg uses...
BP Westlake Campus
Houston, Texas
Consistently ranked as one of Houston’s top 10 places to work, BP’s Westlake Campus...
Walmart Home Office
Bentonville, Arkansas
Walmart’s new 350-acre home office will be fully integrated into the community, and...
Holt Renfrew Sustainable Guidelines
Toronto, Ontario
Canadian luxury department store chain Holt Renfrew tapped Gensler’s Climate Action &...
Conservation International
Arlington, Virginia
Attaining LEED Gold certification at its Crystal City workplace marked the first step...
World Plaza
Manila, Philippines
World Plaza, a 27-story office building located in Fort Bonifacio Global City, was...
UPCycle
Austin, Texas
Guided by the concepts of “upcycling,” thoughtful adaptive reuse, and a sustainable...
Centro de Convenciones de Costa Rica
Heredia, Costa Rica
Costa Rica’s first convention center is a milestone in sustainable design in a country...
Fairmont Austin
Austin, Texas
Located downtown, next to the Austin Convention Center, this new 37-story, 1.4-million...
The Finance Centre Tower
Manila, Philippines
The Finance Centre tower is Daiichi Properties’ latest addition to the Fort Bonifacio...
CSU Northridge Student Sustainability Center
Northridge, California
Home to the university’s recycling operations and its Institute for Sustainability...
citizenM
Seattle, Washington
Located in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood, citizenM is the city’s first...
Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC)
Houston, Texas
Gensler designed the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) headquarters to embody...
California State University, San Marcos, Field House
San Marcos, California
Designed to meet NCAA Division II standards, this 26,000-square-foot expansion of the...
Etsy
Brooklyn, New York
With intelligent sustainable design strategies and thoughtful use of materials, Etsy’s...
Federal Aviation Administration Southwest Regional Headquarters
Fort Worth, Texas
One of the country’s largest government developments, the FAA’s new environmentally...
Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse
Honolulu, Hawaii
An aggressive schedule, the desire for LEED® certification, and a goal of reducing...
The Tower at PNC Plaza
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Completed in October 2015, The Tower at PNC Plaza marks a new step in PNC’s efforts to...
California State University, Long Beach, Blair Field
Long Beach, California
California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) enlisted Gensler’s climate and...
Reinsurance Group of America
Chesterfield, Missouri
The St. Louis offices of Reinsurance Group of America (RGA), a global leader in life...
U.S. General Services Administration, Federal Office Building
Miramar, Florida
Along with Hensel Phelps, Gensler is managing a design-build team that will deliver...
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel & Residences and JW Marriott at L.A. LIVE
Los Angeles, California
Gensler designed this 54-story tower as the visual anchor for the larger six-block...
Panduit
Tinley Park, Illinois
During the last decade, Gensler has partnered with this global manufacturer and...
Nixon Peabody LLP
San Francisco, California
Nixon Peabody is the first U.S. law office to achieve LEED® certification. With one of...
Hotel Palomar Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
An adaptive re-use of Philadelphia’s historic “Architects Building,” this...
The New York Times Company
New York, New York
Transparent news reporting is essential to the success of media companies such as The...
CityCenter
Las Vegas, Nevada
Gensler served as Executive Architect for CityCenter, the largest private development...
Hess Tower
Houston, Texas
Houston’s first downtown LEED® Platinum office building, Hess Tower is a truly 21st...
AMCOL International
Hoffman Estates, Illinois
A manufacturer of specialty mineral products, AMCOL partnered with Gensler to design a...
The Clark
Williamstown, Massachusetts
Gensler served as executive architect and sustainability consultant for a series of...
Shanghai Tower
Shanghai, China
Sited adjacent to the neighboring Jin Mao Tower and Shanghai World Financial Center in...
Alliance for Sustainable Colorado
Denver, Colorado
Working closely with the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado, Gensler developed a design...
The Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries
Beacon, New York
The Beacon Institute’s global center for the study and conservation of waterways is...
Fletcher Jones Mercedes-Benz of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Adjacent Chicago’s heavily trafficked Kennedy Expressway, this new dealership provides...
Santa Monica College Core Performance Center
Santa Monica, California
This new building at the heart of the Santa Monica College campus serves as a focal...
PNC Bank, Harbor East
Baltimore, Maryland
Located within Baltimore’s hip, urban Harbor East neighborhood, this branch...
New York School of Interior Design
New York, New York
With its new graduate facility, the nearly century-old New York School of Interior...
American Multinational Energy Corporation
San Ramon, California
In consolidating workers from two buildings to one, this energy firm gained a dynamic...
Port of Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Seeking to exemplify environmental leadership while meeting its operational and...
Goodyear: Brand Design
Akron, Ohio
In Goodyear’s new Akron headquarters, the company’s culture and legacy have been...
Gensler Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Overlooking Atlanta's famous Peachtree Street in Midtown, Gensler’s local office...
BASF
Florham Park, New Jersey
For its North American regional headquarters, chemical company BASF engaged Gensler to...
Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago, Gratz Center
Chicago, Illinois
Sited on the Magnificent Mile and across from the John Hancock Tower, Fourth Church is...
Duke Kunshan University
Kunshan, China
Just west of Shanghai, this five-building complex is a model of sustainable...
Rio 2016 Olympic Master Plan
Rio de Janiero, Brazil
Gensler led a top-finishing competition consortium of architects, urban designers and...
Southwest Energy Company Renovation/Repurpose
Southwest, United States
When the economic downturn scrapped a ground-up project, Gensler’s design team had a...
Cleveland Clinic Data Center
Brecksville, Ohio
The Clinic treats 4.6 million patients a year through 26 health institutes, and its...
Portland Jetport
Portland, Maine
Portland Jetport had grown sporadically, through multiple additions over the years...
World Food Prize
Des Moines, Iowa
The World Food Prize, considered the Nobel Prize for food and agriculture, honors...
Venables Bell & Partners
San Francisco, California
This cutting-edge advertising firm sits high above one of the most visible corners in...
Glumac
Portland, Oregon
For its Portland office renovation, engineering firm Glumac turned to Gensler for an...
AT&T Foundry
Palo Alto, California
AT&T sought to create a highly adaptable workshop-lab-incubator where developers...
San Francisco International Airport, Terminal 2
San Francisco, California
Designed as representative of the Bay Area’s culture and aesthetic, the renovated...
Ropes & Gray, LLP
Boston, Massachusetts
Following previous successful collaborations between Gensler and Ropes & Gray...
BHP Billiton
Houston, Texas
For its new six-story headquarters, Australian-based BHP Billiton wanted a workplace...
Mineta San Jose International Airport
San Jose, California
To initiate a $1.3 billion airport modernization program, Gensler composed a master...
Fairmont Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Gensler considered and designed every detail of this office/hotel/condominium project...
University of Illinois NCSA Petascale Computing Facility
Champaign, Illinois
This state-of-the-art, LEED®-NC Gold-certified building, designed to withstand an EF-3...
High-Performance Research Computing Center at Princeton University
Plainsboro, New Jersey
Situated on Princeton’s Forrestal campus, this 47,000 square-foot project is the new...
Patriots Plaza
Washington, D.C.
Patriots Plaza, the first speculative office complex to meet post-9/11 security...
Reed Smith LLP, London
London, United Kingdom
The driving goal for Reed Smith’s flagship London office was to foster relationships...
U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
Denver, Colorado
Through a GSA design-build lease-back competition, the DEA sought a new headquarters...
Financial Services (Full-Service Insurance) Company
Rochelle, Illinois
Data center requirements often consign design to a box — typically a windowless one...
Banner Health Technology Center
Confidential Location
The design and documentation of this two-story, 65,000-square-foot facility were...
Walter P Moore
Houston, Texas
As part of its rebranding program, this well-respected engineering firm wanted its new...
Center on Halsted
Chicago, Illinois
Center on Halsted is the Midwest's most comprehensive community center dedicated to...
Herman Miller
Chippenham, United Kingdom
The renowned furniture designer and manufacturer’s European headquarters combines...
Centro Internacional de Negocios (CIN)
Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico
Together with CIN’s developer, Gensler designed this new 40,000-square-foot office...
Community Hospital @ Yishun
Singapore
Singapore is seeking to care for one of Asia’s fastest-aging populations; and the...
Project Cardinal
North Carolina, United States
Targeting LEED® Gold certification, this project serves as the prototype of the...
Financial Services (Banking) Company
Confidential Location, China
The final piece of the client's three-facility construction program, this...
Global Seawater Initiative
Various Locations
Global Seawater, Inc. (GSI) formed in February 2007 with the pioneering vision of...
Meet Our Design Resilience Community
We embed professionals in every practice and every office to achieve sustainable strategies at scale.
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DESIGN RESILIENCE LEADERS
29 Items
Anthony Brower
Global Climate Action & Sustainability Leader
Anthony creates cascading design impacts by connecting patterns that scale from space...
Kirsten Ritchie
Global Climate Action & Sustainability Leader, Community Sector Leader, Principal
As a global leader of Gensler’s Climate Action & Sustainability practice, Kirsten...
Gail Napell
Global Design Resilience Co-Leader
With over 32 years of experience, Gail is a licensed architect who is passionate about...
Rives Taylor
Global Design Resilience Co-Leader, Principal
Rives directs our Global Design Resilience teams and initiatives at Gensler. He is a...
Rhiannon Laurie
Design Resilience Leader
Rhiannon serves as the Global Design Resilience Leader for Gensler’s Repositioning &...
Trevor To
Design Resilience Leader, Design Manager
Trevor is a dedicated architect who is focused on all stages of architectural...
Jim Stanislaski
Design Resilience Leader, Studio Director
As an architect and Studio Director, Jim leads a multi-disciplinary team of designers...
Amanda Zaitchik
Design Resilience Leader, Design Manager
Amanda is Gensler’s Global Digital Experience Design Resilience Leader and specializes...
Chris VanderWeyden
Design Resilience Leader, Senior Sustainability Specialist
Located in the Gensler New York office, Chris is a Global Design Resilience Leader for...
David Briefel
Design Resilience Leader, Sustainability Director, Principal
David is a Sustainability Director and Global Design Resilience Leader located in...
Mallory Taub
Design Resilience Leader, Sustainability Director
As a Sustainability Director and Global Design Resilience Leader for Gensler’s...
Oliver Schaper
Design Resilience Leader, Design Director, Principal
Oliver is an inter-disciplinary Design Director and the Global Cities & Urban Design...
Michael Townsend
Design Resilience Leader, Design Director
Michael is the Design Resilience Leader for the firm’s Mixed Use & Retail Centers...
Benjamin Holsinger
Design Resilience Leader, Sustainability & Wellbeing Consultant
As Global Design Resilience Leader of Gensler’s Product Development practice, Benjamin...
Liz Resenic
Design Resilience Leader, Sustainability Strategist
Liz is a Global Design Resilience Leader for Gensler’s Healthcare practice area. As a...
Gregory Plavcan
Design Resilience Leader, Sustainability Strategist
Gregory is a Global Design Resilience Leader for Gensler’s Media practice area. He...
Lina Khan
Design Resilience Leader, Sustainability Specialist
Lina is a passionate advocate in creating a better world through the power of design...
Sandy Mendler
Design Resilience Leader, Principal
Sandy is a nationally recognized architect and planner focused on creating inspiring...
Jacqueline Zuhoski
Design Resilience Leader, Technical Director
As the Design Resilience Leader for Gensler’s Technology practice, Jacqueline helps...
Peter Muller
Design Resilience Leader, Design Manager
As Design Resilience Leader for Gensler's Brand Design practice area, Peter leads in...
Jacqueline Salterio
Design Resilience Leader, Design Manager
Extreme attention to detail makes Jacqueline adept in designing projects that meet the...
Josh Rosenthal
Design Resilience Leader
Serving as Gensler’s Critical Facilities Design Resilience Leader, Josh specializes in...
Maria Perez
Design Resilience Leader
Maria is a Design Resilience Leader for Gensler’s South Central region and Director of...
Audrey Handelman
Design Resilience Leader, Studio Director
Audrey is an experienced architect, designer, and project leader who serves as the...
Roger Sherman
Design Resilience Leader, Design Director
Roger is the Design Resilience Leader for Gensler’s Residential practice and leads the...
Steven Shinn
Design Resilience Leader, Project Architect
As Global Design Resilience Leader for Gensler’s Culture & Museums practice, Steven...
Stacey Olson
Design Resilience Leader, Director of Sustainability
As a Global Design Resilience Leader of Gensler’s Wellness practice, Stacey provides a...
Jennifer Cardinal
Design Resilience Leader, Design Director
Jennifer leads Design Resilience for Gensler’s Aviation practice and is an experienced...
Rene Cedillos
Design Resilience Leader
Rene is the Design Resilience Leader for Gensler’s Latin America region. He brings...
HEAR MORE FROM OUR LEADERS
Diane Hoskins Announces Green Materials Initiative
Webinar: Climate Action Through Design
CLIMATE ACTION & SUSTAINABLE DESIGN INSIGHTS
21 Items
U.S. Climate Action Survey 2022
We surveyed U.S. residents to understand how climate change effects were already impacting their lives and what actions they felt were being taken on a personal and community level to address future events.
The Next Phase for Climate Action: An Embodied Carbon Revolution
We are working intentionally to influence the building industry by sparking a greater demand for sustainable building materials and products. Our goal is to trigger a sea change by decreasing carbon emissions, improving the resilience of global supply chains, and bringing about a more sustainable future.
How the Building Industry Can Respond to the Terrible, No-Good, Very-Bad IPCC Report
The solutions we must embrace are not aimed at the 1% of iconic sustainable buildings, but rather they are intended to help us return to basic strategies across 99% of existing and future developments.
Why Designing for Climate Action and Sustainability Is an Imperative
In this interview, we sat down with global leaders for Gensler’s new Climate Action & Sustainability practice to discuss what’s next for climate action and sustainable design.
How Inclusive Design Supports Resilience and Climate Preparedness
We have an opportunity to design places that are inclusive for all people that can also promote resilience and make preparedness more accessible in the face of natural disasters and other climate change events.
The Future of ESG in Architecture
A team at Gensler is changing the challenge of measuring the impact of ESG goals by developing design guidance and strategy to add clarity and specificity to ESG metrics.
The Lab Building of the Future is NEXT
The traditional method of designing new science buildings needs to evolve from what the building looks like, to how it needs to be optimized for each tenant.
A Resilient Office Is an Occupied Office
In order to thrive, our downtown cores and buildings need to become more resilient, adaptable, and multiuse — considering efficient use of space and time as valuable factors in the resilience equation.
Fighting Climate Injustice: 10 Strategies for Action
Gensler and the American Institute of Architects are both committed to an ambitious agenda in the fight against climate change. Climate justice refines that approach to ensure that no one community is unfairly impacted by the burden of climate change.
The Case for Adaptive Reuse: How the Link Drives Sustainable Design Strategies in Downtown Denver
Through the tactical use of design, we transformed a dated, 1960s-era telecom office tower into a creative, modern, mixed-use office building at a fraction of the embodied carbon cost compared to building new.
The Morphable Office: Envisioning the Future of the Office Through an ESG Lens
What does the future office building look like? Gensler's "Morphable Office" concept creates a compelling environment that draws people back to the office, but also appeals to their desire to address equity and climate change.
Net Zero Design Is the Key to Building a Resilient, Post-Pandemic Future
As we re-envision the way that buildings, developments, and even cities promote health, we must reimagine how the built environment supports the long-term resilience of our communities, livelihoods, and resources.
Redefining Resilient Spaces Through Smart Material Selection
In this conversation with Armstrong World Industries, we discuss how we can decrease embodied carbon levels in the built environment simply by making smart choices about materials.
Climate Action Through Design
Addressing the built environment’s impact on climate change is both a moral and business imperative. At Gensler, our goal is to make all the buildings we design net carbon zero by 2030. Explore our strategies for designing a resilient and equitable future.
Accelerating Momentum Around Climate Action With Every Person, Every Project, and Every Place
As designers, builders, and creators of the built environment, at Gensler we are committed to leading the charge in climate action by ensuring that every project in our portfolio is net zero carbon by 2030.
Gensler Honored As First Firm to Win Three AIA COTE Top Ten Awards for Sustainable Design
Three Gensler projects were recognized for excellence in sustainable design at the 2020 American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment (COTE) Top Ten Awards, including the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice, UPCycle, and Etsy.
A Different Kind of Climate Change: How Global Migration Will Shape the Next Century
A new age of migration, as entire regions of the world begin an environmental pilgrimage, will bring climate refugees right to the front door of developed nations.
Assembly at North First: Putting Resilient Design to Work in the Wake of the Pandemic
Completed in 2019, Assembly at North First was originally intended to be leased as a single-tenant campus, but the developer asked Gensler to demonstrate what the post-COVID workplace would look like in practice.
Are Our COVID-19 Responses Missing the Big Picture?
As we plan for a new normal, we must keep the climate costs of our post-COVID workplaces and consider how changes we make to deal with the virus might influence the climate.
Could Low-Tech Design Prevent Climate Change-Influenced Pandemics?
How should we think about the coronavirus pandemic in the context of climate change? Is there anything we can do differently in the built environment to fight these two urgent problems?
Developing the World's Tallest Net Zero Timber Building with Sidewalk Labs
Working with Sidewalk Labs and a network of engineers, environmental specialists, and other partners, we have collectively spent the past year exploring timber’s potential impact on building design, manufacturing, and sustainability.
DESIGN RESILIENCE NEWS
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Commercial Observer
2022Gensler ESG Consultancy Director Juliette Morgan discussed how the real estate industry is impacted by findings in the latest IPCC report and reflected on prioritizing energy performance and better building materials. -
Fortune
2022Gensler co-CEO Andy Cohen joined a Fortune roundtable to discuss the need to speed up net zero goals. He noted how Gensler is training all designers to “adhere to the highest standards of sustainability.” -
CNN
2021When it comes to cutting carbon emissions, the real estate sector is running out of time — Co-CEO Diane Hoskins explains how Gensler is leading the way with new building material specifications that will alter the industry's entire value chain.
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