Green Machine

Okland also continually demonstrates its green building prowess in the Southwest—having completed numerous LEED-certified buildings and with more than 50 LEED-accredited professionals on staff. Revenue from sustainable projects in the Southwest totaled $45 million in fiscal-year 2011.

Okland's commitment to sustainability starts with its own 24,000-sq-ft Tempe office, which the company says was Arizona's first privately funded LEED-Platinum project upon completion in July 2011. Created as a teaching tool for staff, project partners and clients, the $5-million building incorporates a 75-kV solar parking canopy system, pervious pavement and a building envelope shaded by automated exterior louvers to maximize daylighting and energy efficiency.

Okland also completed the LEED-Platinum Rio Salado Audubon Center in Phoenix in July 2009, which went on to receive ENR Southwest's Best Green Project award that year. Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Weddle Gilmore Architects designed both Platinum projects.

The LEED-Gold, $64-million Papago Gateway Center in Tempe, completed in 2008, is notable for having one of the largest automated solar-tracking louver systems in the U.S. When the system proved too expensive for a subcontractor to install, Okland rallied with the manufacturer and the building's owner to self-perform the installation.

"I was very nervous about my decision to build a system that had never been built before on the scale of our project, but Bill Okland calmed my nerves and assured me that they could construct the system," says building developer Lee Chesnut, CEO of Chesnut Properties LLC, Del Mar, Calif. "If it weren't for [Okland], I would not have had the guts to build the system."

With an exemplary 0.61 experience modification ratio, safety is a vital concern for Okland staff. The commitment to safety begins with education and continues through to a clean worksite and clear signage, says Glenn Kubricky, Okland's vice president of operations. "We want all of our team members to return safely to their families every night," he adds.

As part of a long-standing relationship with Native American tribes, Okland works with the Navajo Nation OSHA to deliver safety training to workers on Navajo projects. For these jobs, Okland has developed a strong labor force with more than 90% minority participation and extensive minority-owned subcontractors.

Recent Navajo Nation contracts include the $40-million, 115,000-sq-ft Crownpoint Justice Center in Crownpoint, N.M., begun in October 2011, and the 139,400-sq-ft Tuba City Justice Center in Tuba City, Ariz., begun in June 2011 with a construction cost of $51 million. Both projects will wrap up at the end of 2012.