CANSULT Maunsell, one of the largest engineering, design and project management firms in the Middle East, has achieved an integrated green design and a position of carbon neutrality, in an effort to promote the value of sustainable practices to clients and employees.

The achievement is the result of the introduction of a number of measures aimed at reducing total carbon emissions and the additional purchase of renewable energy carbon credits to help offset the operations’ carbon footprint from last year.
Speaking on the achievement, Jim Metcalfe, president and CEO of Cansult Maunsell, says: “Cansult Maunsell is committed to engaging in initiatives that reduce the total carbon emissions associated with our operations. The effort to green our operations requires the continuing support of employees, and so we are also building a committed and engaged culture in the workplace through Cansult Maunsell’s Office of Sustainability, which works to champion sustainable practices throughout the company.”
The carbon-reducing measures include the selection of office furnishings with recycled content, the use of low-impact paint and the conversion to energy-efficient lighting and photocopying/printing equipment.
Furthermore, corporate operations have also switched to 100 per cent recycled paper to complement its existing paper conservation and recycling programmes; while in order to reduce air travel – which was the single largest source of carbon emissions – a video-conferencing system has been installed as an alternative.
But even with these and other measures, the associated carbon footprint still required the purchase of renewable energy carbon credits in order to achieve a position of carbon neutrality.
This offset purchase supports wind farms in India, China and Turkey, which allows Cansult Maunsell to assist renewable energy projects outside the Middle East in an effort to address the issue of climate change globally.
The company’s decision to reduce carbon emissions has also been welcomed by the Emirates Wildlife Society-WWF (EWS-WWF).
“The effort taken by Cansult Maunsell, a EWS-WWF corporate member, to address the environmental sustainability issues related to its operations is an important step towards demonstrating greater corporate environmental responsibility. It is also in keeping with EWS-WWF’s mission of promoting sustainable business practices,” said Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, managing director of EWS-WWF.
As a next step to demonstrate its ongoing commitment to reducing total carbon emissions, Cansult Maunsell has expanded the project to its regional operations, which consists of eight offices in the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain, and over 3,000 employees.