Sustainability Efforts

About REI Systems

REI Systems (REI) provides reliable, effective, and innovative technology solutions that advance federal, state, local, and nonprofit missions. Our technologists and consultants are passionate about solving complex challenges that impact millions of lives. We take a Mindful Modernization approach in delivering our application modernization, grants management systems, government data analytics, and advisory services. Mindful Modernization™ is the REI Way of delivering mission impact by aligning our government customers’ strategic objectives to measurable outcomes through people, processes, and technology.

Aside from our internal and client-oriented principles, we are dedicated to functioning as a responsible corporate entity. Our goal is to create a favorable and significant influence on the local communities that house us, the nation we operate in, and the worldwide community we are a part of. This encompasses a comprehensive comprehension of the role that Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) play in driving climate change, along with a clear understanding of our company’s contribution – whether constructive or adverse – to this transformative process.

Environmental Policy

At REI, we recognize the importance of environmental sustainability and are committed to minimizing our environmental impact. We believe that responsible environmental stewardship is essential for the well-being of our planet and future generations. We have established this environmental policy to be consistent with the purpose and context of REI Systems. It provides a framework for the setting and review of environmental objectives in addition to our commitment towards the following:

1. Compliance: We are committed to complying with all applicable environmental laws, regulations, and other requirements relevant to our operations. We will regularly monitor changes in legislation to ensure ongoing compliance.
2. Resource Efficiency: We will optimize the use of resources (reduction, reuse, and recycling), including energy, water, and raw materials, to minimize waste and promote efficiency in our processes while being mindful of protecting our local ecosystem.
3. Emission Reduction: We are committed to reducing emissions over time both directly and throughout our ecosystem of partners and service providers.
4. Continuous Improvement: We will continually strive to improve our environmental performance. Through regular assessments and reviews, we will identify opportunities for pollution prevention, resource conservation, and the reduction of our environmental footprint.

Business Case and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Focus Areas

Climate change is a global challenge that brings serious consequences for our society, our economy, our infrastructure, and our natural environment. The current concentrations of GHGs in the atmosphere are at levels unprecedented in at least the last 650,000 years, and as a result, the earth’s climate is warming.¹ Climate change has clearly become a global challenge that implies consequences in the social and economic infrastructure and the natural environment. While much of the focus has been on companies and industries that are direct “emitters” of GHGs, service companies like REI also play an important role. REI recognizes the need for service-sector companies to reduce global GHG emissions to minimize the economic dangers of climate change over time. Service-sector companies have an opportunity to influence their operations, supply chains, customers, employees, and other stakeholders to help change those behaviors necessary to curb the most dangerous effects of climate change.² This is why REI is committed to inventorying, reporting, and reducing GHG emissions over time. It is our goal to leverage appropriate opportunities for energy savings throughout the business and to position ourselves as an environmentally responsible organization and a contributor to general carbon reduction targets.

Inventory Greenhouse Gas Emissions

REI conducted a GHG inventory to enable our company to identify emission reduction opportunities, set reduction targets, and track our progress over time based on the World Resource Institute’s publication – A Service Guide to Greenhouse Gas Management. The inventory quantifies the amount of GHG emissions that can be attributed to our operations inside a defined boundary and scope for a specified reporting period. The inventory was prepared in accordance with the guiding principles established by the GHG protocol which includes relevance by defining boundaries that reflect the GHG emissions of the business and the decision-making needs of the inventory users, completeness by accounting for all emissions sources and activities within organizational and operational boundaries, consistency by allowing a comparison of emissions performance over time and stating any changes in the basis of reporting to make sure the comparison remains valid, transparency by addressing all relevant issues and citing the calculation methodologies used, and finally, accuracy by ensuring that the GHG calculations are accurate, and provide reasonable assurance of the GHG information’s integrity.³ REI’s inventory focuses on our emission-generating activities such as electricity use. We conducted this inventory in two phases: Determining our Organizational Boundary and setting our Operational Boundary.

Determining our Organizational Boundary

To determine our Operational Boundary, we followed the GHG Protocol recommendation to evaluate utilize one of three approaches to determine our direct carbon footprint. The three Organizational Boundary approaches are:

• Equity Share
• Financial Control
• Operational Control

Setting Operational Boundary

Creating an Operational Boundary enables REI to categorize our emissions causing activities. To aide in both identification and reporting, the GHG Protocol defines two standard categories:

• Direct Emissions (Scope 1): Emissions from sources owned or controlled by a company.
  • Not Applicable:  After a thorough analysis, we have determined that REI has no Scope 1 emissions. REI does not have any direct control over electricity generation or own transportation used by the organization.
• Indirect Emissions (Scope 2): Refers to the any emissions from any source that are not owned or controlled by the company. Refers to emissions from energy consumption used and generated by another company. In GHG accounting terminology, this refers to “purchased electricity.”
  • Not Applicable: After a thorough analysis, we have determined that REI has no Scope 2 emissions. REI’s office locations are leased spaces and do not pay for metered electricity use.

REI will abide by the GHG Protocol’s objective to present annual performance reporting on emitted GHGs for both internal management methods and external reporting purposes. REI will report its GHG emissions by the two measurement and reporting decisions, namely the scope of emissions and its organizational boundary.

References

Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). Determine Organizational Boundaries. EPA. Retrieved March 29, 2023, from https://www.epa.gov/climateleadership/determine-organizational-boundaries 

European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA), “Stable Carbon Cycle–Climate Relationship during the Late Pleistocene” and “Atmospheric Methane and Nitrous Oxide of the Late Pleistocene from Antarctic Ice Cores,” Science, November 25, 2005.

Hot Climate, Cool Commerce: A Service Sector Guide to Greenhouse Gas Management. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2023, from http://pdf.wri.org/hotclimatecoolcommerce.pdf 

¹ European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA), “Stable Carbon Cycle–Climate Relationship during the Late Pleistocene” and “Atmospheric Methane and Nitrous Oxide of the Late Pleistocene from Antarctic Ice Cores,” Science, November 25, 2005.

² Hot Climate, Cool Commerce: A Service Sector Guide to Greenhouse Gas Management. Retrieved from http://pdf.wri.org/hotclimatecoolcommerce.pdf

³ Hot Climate, Cool Commerce: A Service Sector Guide to Greenhouse Gas Management. Retrieved from http://pdf.wri.org/hotclimatecoolcommerce.pdf