Green Initiatives

At Rossmar & Graham, we are always looking for ways we can make life better for the residents living in the communities we serve. In addition to providing hassle-free community management services, we're committed to adopting more sustainable management practices in an effort to help our residents lead healthier, more environmentally friendly lifestyles. What's good for the environment is also good for our residents.

This commitment to fostering sustainable communities has led to the creation of our Green & Sustainability Council, a national task force formed by our parent company, FirstService Residential Management, which is charged with the mandate of helping our residents and employees achieve a better quality of life through sustainable practices.

The better informed we are, the better we can help our communities to become more sustainable, which is why we've adopted an education-based, multi-tiered strategy.

First, we are educating our employees and following the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standard to guide our learning. We currently have one LEED Green Associate at Rossmar & Graham: Arianne Ahlvin, Director of Business Development. Arianne is a highly motivated, enthusiastic individual who has stepped up to become a knowledge leader within our organization and who is committed to finding cost effective solutions for everyday administrative and managerial functions. Classes and webinars are available on our national training system, the FSR School of Professional Development, to facilitate ongoing learning.

Second, we are using this knowledge to implement best practices within our organization in order to lessen our impact on the environment. We have committed to implementing 10 key initiatives that we call the "Fast 5 and Big 5."

The Fast 5 are simple, sensible and straightforward: Establishing a green team to coordinate and roll-out initiatives; ensuring as much as possible that our printing and copying is double-sided; no longer purchasing bottled water or polystyrene cups; implementing electronic recycling programs for our offices; and implementing a monitoring mechanism so we can track our progress.

The Big 5 are bigger projects with big impacts: Developing comprehensive conservation policies and strategies with respect to energy and water use; creating recycling programs; rolling out a green cleaning policy and best practice guide; and developing sustainable purchasing and renovation policies.

Finally, we are partnering with our HOA communities to reduce costs while doing the right thing. All our programs consider the triple bottom line economic, social and environmental impacts. We are continuing to learn through this process to develop long-term sustainability plans for our communities. We are committed to applying our knowledge to what we do best - providing professional management services that contribute to healthier, more sustainable lifestyles for our residents.