We are excited to bring you the Texan by Nature 20 (TxN 20) for its third year! The TxN 20 is an effort to recognize the best work in conservation coming from businesses operating and based in Texas. It’s an opportunity to showcase innovation, commitment, and best practices from a variety of industries.
To select the 2021 TxN 20, the TxN Team evaluated submissions as well as conducted independent research across 2,000+ of Texas’ publicly traded and private companies within 12 industry sectors. All companies were evaluated on a 17-point scoring system to narrow down the list of the top 60 companies in Texas. A selection committee of top industry leaders was formed to evaluate the top 60 companies and select the final honorees for the TxN 20.
Texas is America’s fifth fastest growing state, with a population of over 29 million, and with population growth comes the need for more construction. From new and expanded roads and bridges to more airport runways, housing developments, electric power grids, pipelines, and wastewater treatment systems — construction is a part of Texans’ everyday lives. Employing operating efficiencies, developing sustainable features, technologies, and prodcuts, and good resource management is more important than ever. From water and energy conservation focused designs to using reclaimed and sustainably harvested materials to doing landscape scale restoration projects, construction industry leaders are taking great strides to incorporate conservation as part of their growth.
Learn more about the 2021 TxN 20 honorees from the construction and manufacturing industry and see a list of industry highlights.
2021 Honoree: CEMEX
For the third consecutive year, CEMEX is a TxN 20 Honoree. CEMEX is at the forefront of the circular economy in the construction value chain, including pioneering ways to increase the use of waste and residues as alternative raw materials and fuels with the use of new technologies. They are working toward delivering net-zero CO2 concrete globally by 2050. Outside of their products and supply chain, CEMEX’s conservation and sustainability mission are in action at the El Carmen Nature Reserve – CEMEX’s 346,000 acres biodiversity reserve located on the U.S.-Mexico border, stores around 11 million tons of biologically sequestered CO2, equivalent to 30% of their annual worldwide CO2 emissions.
Read the full honoree Q&A write-ups and read the 2021 press release
Industry Highlights
In addition to this year’s TxN 20 honorees, learn more about best practices in conservation and sustainability coming from companies across the construction and manufacturing industry.
- Since 2016, Vulcan Materials Company has focused their sustainability efforts on waste diversion through their continuous reducing and reusing efforts. This has resulted in the recycling of 8.5MM tons of aggregate base product, 1.85+MM gallons of used oil, and 85,000+ light bulbs!
- RES is the nation’s largest ecological restoration company, and in 2019, they became net zero in their operations. They have planted over 3.8 million trees to avoid 19 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent and have constructed over 10% of all the wind capacity in the US. Their 17 gigawatt project portfolio is enough to power every mobile phone in the world! In Texas they are working with The North Texas Municipal Water District to mitigate the effects of constructing a 16,000 acre reservoir by restoring, enhancing and preserving over 14,500 acres of wetland and upland habitats and 70 miles of streams within the same watershed.
- Sundt is a leader in sustainable construction with more than 100 of their employees LEED certified. Additionally Sundt consistently ranks among Engineering News-Record (ENR)’s Top 100 Green Builders. In 2020, Sundt received the Industrial Environmental Association (IEA) 2020 Environmental Excellence Award.
- KBR prioritizes sustainability within their company. In 2020, KBR launched a sustainability education program called One Ocean dedicated to building a talented pipeline of future leaders working towards sustainable, creative, and innovative development solutions. This program has schools in Saudi Arabia, India, Singapore, Poland, and Australia.
- In 2021, American Campus Communities made a commitment to Texan by Nature’s collaboratively led a statewide effort called Lights Out Texas. This initiative encouraged all Texans to turn off all lights at night in the Spring and Fall to protect migratory birds. American Campus Communities was a 2019 and 2020 TxN 20 Honoree.