SAS Canada Celebrates Five Years in LEED-Certified Headquarters

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SAS Canada

Dec 02, 2010, 05:59 ET

Building eliminates over 20,000 tons of CO2 emissions since 2005, employee sick days down by a third

TORONTO, Dec. 2 /CNW/ - Continuing its commitment to environmental sustainability, SAS Canada today celebrated the five-year anniversary of its eco-friendly head office. Since the building's opening, SAS has enjoyed a return on investment totaling 375 per cent per square foot, compared to its previous office at BCE Place, while cutting its annual CO2 footprint by over 4,000 tons in 2010. Over the five years SAS has eliminated 20,300 tons CO2, which is the equivalent of removing 3,075 cars from the road or planting more than 100,000 trees.

"It's an exciting time for Canadian businesses to integrate green practices into their daily operations and reap the rewards," said Stuart Bowden, Senior Vice President, Finance and Operations for SAS Canada. "For all the environmental positives that come from building this office, the most rewarding is the health benefits for our employees. Since 2005, sick days are down by approximately 35 per cent - proof that you are what you breathe."

A survey conducted by Leger Marketing for SAS Canada earlier this year revealed that 80 per cent of executives at mid and large sized businesses said that environmental sustainability is important for their organization, yet slightly less than half (48 per cent) said they had the software tools in place to effectively measure and monitor environmental sustainability goals. The construction, engineering and manufacturing sector was furthest along with 58 per cent saying they have the necessary tools in place to measure goals. Pharmaceutical, health services and medicine were lagging other industries with just one in three (33 per cent) saying they had the right tools.

Last year SAS expanded its SAS for Sustainability Management solutions, a software tool designed to help organizations measure, manage and report on the environmental impact of an organization, as well as identify key metrics that will have the greatest impact to attain desired goals.

"Over the past five years SAS Canada has been dedicated to improving and enhancing our green initiatives," Bowden said. "From our employee engagement to our corporate programs, our collaborative efforts have generated tremendous results that set the standard for corporate Canada."

In 2010, the SAS Canada building consumed over 65 per cent less energy than the equivalent Ontario office building. SAS's eco-friendly building harvests rainwater used in the building's internal operations and uses indirect lighting. No workstation in the SAS office is more than 3 meters from a source of natural daylight and all SAS workstations have at least two exterior views.

Ultra efficient air filtering ensures the highest levels of air quality. The SAS building uses underfloor air distribution, which saves considerable energy and adds enhanced comfort and air quality to the occupied spaces. Certified as LEED Silver in 2008, the headquarters continues to generate public recognition for its leadership in corporate sustainability practices. SAS Canada was named one of Canada's Greenest Employers in 2010 for its policies to promote the three R's of environmental sustainability - reduce, reuse and recycle. SAS Canada was honored with the Award of Excellence - energy conservation - at the 2009 Green Toronto Awards. The headquarters was also the winner of the Real Estate Excellence Award (REX) for Office Development of the Year in 2005.

About SAS

SAS is the leader in business analytics software and services, and the largest independent vendor in the business intelligence market. Through innovative solutions delivered within an integrated framework, SAS helps customers at more than 45,000 sites improve performance and deliver value by making better decisions faster. Since 1976 SAS has been giving customers around the world The Power to Know®

The Canadian subsidiary of SAS has been in operation for 22 years. Headquartered in Toronto, SAS employs 263 people across the country at its Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec City and Montréal offices. www.sas.com

SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries. ® indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright © 2009 SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved.

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