Annually, the Emerald team selects one U.S. non-profit organization to support in seeking a sustainable building certification. This program is called Emerald Gives. Started in 2020 as a way for the company to give back, this is an initiative we're proud to offer the community every year. It is always a tough decision, but after careful consideration, we are excited to announce Hathaway Brown School as this year's recipient.

Announced today, Emerald Built Environments, a sustainability consultancy based in Cleveland, Ohio, selected Hathaway Brown School as this year's Emerald Gives Partner. Through this program, Hathaway Brown will receive complimentary consulting services to assess and implement certification goals for the 210,223 square-foot building under the LEED Existing Buildings Operation + Maintenance v4.1 rating system (LEED EB O+M). This certification focuses on concepts such as indoor air quality, sustainable purchasing, green cleaning, human experience, ongoing recycling and waste management, energy and water efficiency, and sustainable building and grounds maintenance. Achieving certification in LEED EB O+M can result in financial benefits to the organization, such as resource consumption savings.

Hathaway Brown School (HB) is dedicated to excellence in the education of girls, including both preparation for college and life. Emerald’s leadership team evaluated applications for this award and selected the school based upon its deep commitment to sustainability, which includes active engagement of its students. HB's application to the Emerald Gives program, and pursuit of LEED EB O+M certification, will integrate with sustainability in its curriculum and culture, bringing to life its recent facility improvements. 

“Hathaway Brown’s LEED EB O+M certification demonstrates our commitment to sustainability,” said Director of Fellowships in Sustainability Torrey McMillan. “We empower our students to apply knowledge in action; we’ll engage students in the LEED EB O+M certification process, deepening their learning experience while advancing our sustainability goals. The certification process also allows us to examine the sustainability of our renovations and our operations and maintenance policies and procedures--pushing our sustainability initiatives further and faster."

During 2022, Emerald will work closely with stakeholders from Hathaway Brown, including a junior student completing a Fellowship in Sustainability through a combination of coursework and applied experiences, to assess the building’s current operations and maintenance. Included in the assessment are key metrics such as energy, water, transportation, waste, and human comfort. Based upon the assessment findings, the team will develop an implementation plan to document and achieve certification. The goal is to submit for certification in fall 2022.

“Hathaway Brown’s application to Emerald Gives stood out to our leadership team. The commitment to sustainability is embedded in the organization’s culture and curriculum, and by empowering its students to contribute to improvement efforts, HB exemplifies our core value of Cultivate the Team: cooperate, engage, and bring others along," said Laura Steinbrink, Managing Member. “As a woman-owned business, the opportunity to partner with the next generation of female leaders to create a more sustainable space for learning, growth, and development is a thrill for our team."

About Hathaway Brown School

Since 1876, Hathaway Brown School has educated and empowered girls. The K-12 day school in Shaker Heights, Ohio is regionally and nationally recognized as a top girls’ school for its Learn for Life Signature Approach. Its model for education integrates distinguished academics, empowered girls, knowledge in action, and a celebrated community of students, alums, faculty, and parents. To learn more about HB, click HERE.

We Would Love to Work with Your Non-Profit

In addition to selecting one non-profit each year to support in achieving a certification through Emerald Gives, Emerald also extends a discount to non-profit clients that engage directly with us. If you're involved with a non-profit that is looking to set and/or achieve sustainability initiatives, we would be happy to help you achieve your desired results.