Velcro Canada and Menkes Property Management Services take home top prize in Green Building Challenge

- Companies invited to join the People Power Challenge Transportation Challenge that starts July 1 -

TORONTO, June 24, 2013 /CNW/ - Sustainable building management offers a significant opportunity to positively impact the environment.  The Green Building Challenge was the second competition of the 2013 People Power Challenge, a year long competition designed to encourage staff to generate ways to improve their company's environmental performance and reduce its costs. The Green Building Challenge, which ended on June 7, challenged companies to examine the management of their facilities through a sustainability lens.

"Once again, all of the participants blew me away with their efforts to engage employees and achieve results for their organizations, the environment, and their bottom lines," said Jennifer Taves, Project Manager, Partners in Project Green. "We congratulate all of the competitors, and especially Velcro Canada Inc and Menkes Property Management Services for the successes they achieved in mobilizing their staff on green building practices."

The SME winner (499 employees or less) is Velcro Canada Inc.  They earned 57 points for engaging employees in Green Building and for managing their Brampton facility in a sustainable manner.  Throughout the Challenge, employees made 78 pledges to take Green Building management actions.

"Through continuous improvement processes, Velcro Canada Inc. is committed to working towards conserving energy, reducing resource consumption, and reducing waste," says Tal Rafailov, Quality Systems Manager, Velcro Canada Inc. "With our participation in the People Power Challenge, we saw a noticeable increase in employee participation and awareness of environmental practices. It is an honour to be recognized for our efforts in sustainability."

The Large Enterprise winner (500 employees or more) is Menkes Property Management Services. Menkes also took home the top prize in the Green Procurement Challenge earlier this year. Menkes continued its trend of engaging employees in its sustainability practices, with 116 pledges made and committing to building capacity of employees through Green Building training.

"At Menkes, we recognize the importance of our daily business decisions and how they affect the environment and the spaces we manage. Menkes Property Management Services Ltd. continues to strive for excellence in all avenues of sustainability", says Elena Muto, General Manager of 4711 Yonge Street, Menkes Property Management Services Ltd. "The People Power Challenge provides windows of opportunity for even further improvement while always engaging our tenants and employees. The program is a clear step by step process to achieve continued excellent results."

Other participating companies in the Green Building Challenge include: Broan NuTone Canada, Canadian Tire Brampton, Canadian Tire AJ Billes, Husky Injection Molding, Region of Peel, Trillium Health Partners. All organizations all gained engaged employees, suggestions for improving purchasing performance, and are in the running to win the People Power Challenge Grand Prize at the end of the year.

Companies can still sign up for the Transportation Challenge that starts July 1. This Challenge focuses on helping you mobilize your staff on transportation management and employee commuting projects. There is no cost to participate, and the People Power Challenge is open to any company in the GTA. Visit www.partnersinprojectgreen.com/ppc2013 to get started.

ABOUT PARTNERS IN PROJECT GREEN
Partners in Project Green is a growing community of businesses working together to green their bottom line by creating an internationally recognized eco-business zone around Toronto Pearson. Through new forms of business-to-business collaboration, Partners in Project Green delivers programming that helps businesses reduce energy and resource costs, uncover new business opportunities, and address everyday operational challenges in a green and cost-effective manner.

SOURCE: Partners in Project Green

Media Contact

Rowena Calpito
Toronto and Region Conservation
416-661-6600 ext 5632
[email protected]