Skanska, a global leader in sustainable building, has restructured its Sustainability Team to better serve client and company goals. Co-led by Steve Clem and Myrrh Caplan, who together bring decades of experience, the team will allow Skanska to continue to set the bar for the industry.
“Steve and Myrrh are central to our commitment to sustainability,” said Steve Stouthamer, Executive Vice President, Project Planning, Skanska USA Building. “As Senior Vice Presidents, they’ll leverage Skanska’s global and domestic initiatives to protect our environment and ensure the resilience of the communities we build in. By harnessing their collective expertise, we can make significant strides toward our decarbonization goals while continuing to set the bar for sustainable industry practices.”
With Clem and Caplan at the helm, Skanska is well positioned to support clients and maximize opportunities for sustainability consulting, as state and federal agencies implement stricter sustainability requirements for buildings and construction. Skanska’s robust Sustainability Team, located throughout the country, will continue supporting Clem and Caplan with helping clients meet and exceed their sustainability goals, advancing industry and client outcomes through innovation and research, and identifying opportunities to create more value-add solutions.
Since joining Skanska as a Project Manager in 2005, Caplan has helped shape Skanska’s national approach to sustainable building. She established the company’s first national Green Construction program and chaired Skanska’s first National Green Council. Throughout the past decade, she has managed multiple initiatives including carbon lifecycle analysis and efforts that benefit clients and the industry. Caplan leads Skanska's National Sustainability Team, made up of consultants and advisors.
Caplan was named a 2022 LEED Fellow by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), one of twenty professionals from around the world recognized for their work in advancing green building practices. To date, Caplan has advised on nearly 300 certified projects and projects seeking LEED, Living Building Challenge, WELL, Envision, and other certifications. In 2023, Caplan co-created the Associated General Contractors of America Task Force on Decarbonization and Carbon Reporting to address the challenges around reporting and reducing carbon emissions within construction. She sits on the board of mindfulMaterials, serves on several industry committees, and participates in research with key partners.
Steve Clem joined Skanska as a project engineer in 1997 and over the years, established himself as one of Skanska’s staunchest sustainability leaders. In his role, Clem is responsible for setting and achieving Skanska’s decarbonization goals in the United States and works with construction teams to identify sustainable procurement solutions for clients including the use of mass timber. Clem’s efforts to reduce the industry’s embodied carbon began over 15 years ago and he has been influencing procurement with the Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (EC3 Tool) since Skanska co-created and launched the tool in 2019. Clem has also authored multiple cost studies that demystify the adoption of environmentally preferable construction strategies.
Clem spearheaded Skanska’s early participation in the Living Building Challenge – first with the influential Living Building Challenge Financial Study and then with the Bertschi School project. He holds certifications from the US Green Building Council, International Living Future Institute, and OSHA, among other accrediting agencies. Clem is also president of the construction safety non-profit, SafeBuild Alliance, and sits on the board of Building Transparency, which manages the EC3 Tool.
The built environment accounts for nearly 40 percent of carbon emissions globally, with approximately 11 percent embodied in construction materials and an estimated 28 percent stemming from building operations. To reduce its impact on the planet, Skanska has had a long trajectory of environmental accomplishments under Clem and Caplan’s leadership:
- Skanska set an ambitious target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 in its own operations and across its entire value chain. As an interim target, its development operations aim to achieve a 70 percent reduction by 2030.
- Skanska has been working on mass timber projects for more than a decade, improving construction schedules while reaping the environmental, health, and aesthetic benefits.
- Skanska has delivered over 44 million square feet of space that has been certified across several systems including LEED®, Envision™, Green Globes, Fitwel and Living Building Challenge. On our own development projects, we target a minimum of LEED® Gold, with many projects achieving LEED Platinum.
- Skanska supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to address issues like climate action, sustainable cities and communities, and responsible consumption and production.
- Skanska is ISO 14001 certified to ensure consistent environmental performance and continuous improvement. Skanska’s ISO 14001 certification program has been recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council.
- Skanska partners with organizations to transform the industry, investing in research and technology, and pioneering sustainable construction practices.
More Information on Skanska’s Sustainability Initiatives:
About Skanska
Skanska uses knowledge & foresight to shape the way people live, work, and connect. More than 135 years in the making, we’re one of the world’s largest development and construction companies. We operate in select markets throughout the Nordics, Europe and the United States. Skanska in the U.S. is headquartered in New York City with 29 offices around the country. In 2022, construction in the U.S. generated $6.9 billion in revenue, and as a developer in the U.S., Skanska has invested a total of $3.5 billion in commercial and multi-family projects. Together with our customers and the collective expertise of our 6,500 teammates in the U.S. and 28,000 globally, we create innovative and sustainable solutions that support healthy living beyond our lifetime.
Related Stories
| Feb 22, 2011
LEED Volume Program celebrates its 500th certified Pilot Project
More than 500 building projects have certified through the LEED Volume Program since the pilot launched in 2006, according to the U.S. Green Building Council. The LEED Volume Program streamlines the certification process for high-volume property owners and managers, from commercial real estate firms, national retailers and hospitality providers, to local, state and federal governments.
| Feb 15, 2011
New 2030 Challenge to include carbon footprint of building materials and products
Architecture 2030 has just broadened the scope of its 2030 Challenge, issuing an additional challenge regarding the climate impact of building products. The 2030 Challenge for Products aims to reduce the embodied carbon (meaning the carbon emissions equivalent) of building products 50% by 2030.
| Feb 15, 2011
New Urbanist Andrés Duany: We need a LEED Brown rating
Andrés Duany advocates a "LEED Brown" rating that would give contractors credit for using traditional but low cost measures that are not easy to quantify or certify. He described these steps as "the original green," and "what we did when we didn't have money." Ostensibly, LEED Brown would be in addition to the current Silver, Gold and Platinum ratings.
| Feb 14, 2011
Sustainable Roofing: A Whole-Building Approach
According to sustainability experts, the first step toward designing an energy-efficient roofing system is to see roof materials and systems as an integral component of the enclosure and the building as a whole. Earn 1.0 AIA/CES learning units by studying this article and successfully completing the online exam.
| Feb 14, 2011
More companies willing to pay extra for green office space
New CoreNet Global/Jones Lang LaSalle survey shows real estate executives forging green strategies that balance environmental, financial and workforce issues.
| Feb 11, 2011
Sustainable features on the bill for dual-building performing arts center at Soka University of America
The $73 million Soka University of America’s new performing arts center and academic complex recently opened on the school’s Aliso Viejo, Calif., campus. McCarthy Building Companies and Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects collaborated on the two-building project. One is a three-story, 47,836-sf facility with a grand reception lobby, a 1,200-seat auditorium, and supports spaces. The other is a four-story, 48,974-sf facility with 11 classrooms, 29 faculty offices, a 150-seat black box theater, rehearsal/dance studio, and support spaces. The project, which has a green roof, solar panels, operable windows, and sun-shading devices, is going for LEED Silver.
| Feb 11, 2011
Kentucky’s first green adaptive reuse project earns Platinum
(FER) studio, Inglewood, Calif., converted a 115-year-old former dry goods store in Louisville, Ky., into a 10,175-sf mixed-use commercial building earned LEED Platinum and holds the distinction of being the state’s first adaptive reuse project to earn any LEED rating. The facility, located in the East Market District, houses a gallery, event space, offices, conference space, and a restaurant. Sustainable elements that helped the building reach its top LEED rating include xeriscaping, a green roof, rainwater collection and reuse, 12 geothermal wells, 81 solar panels, a 1,100-gallon ice storage system (off-grid energy efficiency is 68%) and the reuse and recycling of construction materials. Local firm Peters Construction served as GC.
| Feb 11, 2011
Justice center on Fall River harbor serves up daylight, sustainable elements, including eucalyptus millwork
Located on historic South Main Street in Fall River, Mass., the Fall River Justice Center opened last fall to serve as the city’s Superior and District Courts building. The $85 million facility was designed by Boston-based Finegold Alexander + Associates Inc., with Dimeo Construction as CM and Arup as MEP. The 154,000-sf courthouse contains nine courtrooms, a law library, and a detention area. Most of the floors have the same ceiling height, which will makes them easier to reconfigure in the future as space needs change. Designed to achieve LEED Silver, the facility’s elliptical design offers abundant natural daylight and views of the harbor. Renewable eucalyptus millwork is one of the sustainable features.
| Feb 10, 2011
Zero Energy Buildings: When Do They Pay Off in a Hot and Humid Climate?
There’s lots of talk about zero energy as the next big milestone in green building. Realistically, how close are we to this ambitious goal? At this point, the strategies required to get to zero energy are relatively expensive. Only a few buildings, most of them 6,000 sf or less, mostly located in California and similar moderate climates, have hit the mark. What about larger buildings, commercial buildings, more problematic climates? Given the constraints of current technology and the comfort demands of building users, is zero energy a worthwhile investment for buildings in, for example, a warm, humid climate?
