BOLINGBROOK, IL – The Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association awarded INTERRA, Inc. the 2017 Green Industry Achievement Award on Thursday, December 7th in Rosemont, Ill. recognizing the many green initiatives being done by the engineering firm.
The award was accepted by INTERRA President Sanjeev Bandi and Principal Engineer Rao Doppalapudi in front of members in the construction industry.
“We are honored to accept this award with the many other nominees and partners who are also doing their part to help the environment,” Bandi said. “This award marks our continuation of green initiatives and serves as a motivation for more action and a resolve towards a more sustainable future.”
President Bandi began initiatives of going green in 2016 by researching and discovering environmentally friendly ways of doing business for INTERRA. He devoted time to learning about solar energy and received hours of training and education on Solar Photovoltaics (PV) through the Illinois Solar Energy Association. He quickly mobilized INTERRA staff with these ideas evolving into company policy.
Green initiatives began at INTERRA’s headquarters in Bolingbrook by changing interior and exterior lighting in the shared office building to energy efficient LED bulbs. These actions were soon followed by the implementation and innovation of several key measures: the addition of new rooftop solar panels, recycling, incorporating electric vehicles into company fleet, community outreach, the development of the Green Committee, among many other actions.
Village of Bolingbrook Mayor Roger Claar performed the ribbon cutting in November, celebrating a new rooftop 220 panel, 75.9 Kilowatt DC Solar Panel system. Approximately, 100,000 kWh energy production meets about 80 percent of the company’s electricity consumption, equivalent to almost 2,400 trees being planted yearly or 150,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions being eliminated.
Another key measure is through recycling the following: concrete and asphalt samples, paper, glass, metals, electronics, chemicals, and plastic. Among the chemicals being recycled is Trichloroethylene (TCE) where the chemical is reclaimed to be used again and the sludge is disposed of. The recycling of concrete and asphalt accounts for 109 tons yearly. Another effort in 2017, INTERRA began converting company fleet to electric and presently has four electric chargers available to clients and staff.
As result of INTERRA’s green in-house projects and community outreach, approximately 496,000 pounds of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, will not be emitted into the environment annually.
“There are many big and small actions that we can all do daily to help our planet,” Bandi said.