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,
Nationally, the healthcare industry drives 18 percent of the total economy, and it’s that big in Texas. The population of Texas is the second largest in the U.S. at over 29 million and is expected to double by 2050. In response to a growing population, existing healthcare is expanding rapidly. The life sciences sector has generated a significant economic impact in Texas, with an estimated $ 32.1 billion, 135,000 jobs, and $ 3.1 billion in payroll. The Texas Medical Center in Houston is the largest medical center in the world, with 106,000 employees housed in a complex of more than 525 hectares. In North Texas alone, there are 90 hospital members in the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council that have a $14 billion impact on the economy and add 265,000 jobs statewide. Many healthcare providers are leading the way to create healthy communities by incorporating sustainability and green space within their facilities and using nature to provide both healing opportunities to patients and vital habitat for Texas’ flora and fauna.
Learn more about the 2021 TxN 20 honoree from the healthcare industry and see a list of industry highlights.
2021 Honoree: Texas Health Resources
TxN 20 Honoree, Texas Health Resources is one of the largest faith-based, nonprofit health systems in the United States. They use efficient processes to conserve energy and water in order to contribute to environmental health and promote financial stability. Texas Health participates in the North Texas Healthcare Laundry Cooperative, which allows them to wash linens using 50% less water, chemicals, and energy than traditional laundry services. Through additional water conservation measures like low-flow toilets, waterless urinals, and water-efficient irrigation and operational systems, 80.55 million gallons of water have been conserved during the last five years, enough to fill 131.6 Olympic-sized pools.
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 healthcare industry.
- Cardinal Health recently converted a 400,000-plus square foot building and surrounding campus to LED lighting, resulting in an annual reduction of 880+ MT of CO2 emissions. In 2019, their projects saved a total of 3,900 MT of CO2 emissions and 5.7 million kWh.
- In 2019, AmerisourceBergen Company constructed a rooftop solar photovoltaic system at their Phoenix Distribution Center that will generate approximately 2 million kWH of electricity every year. They expect the solar system to supply the center with 50% of its electricity needs.
- In 2019, Alcon implemented twelve water conservation projects including collecting rainwater, upgrading water infrastructure, and recycling processed water. Together, these projects saved approximately 75 megaliters of water savings across the company.
- As part of the TxN Certified Central Texas Pollinator Project, Baylor Scott & White promoted pollinator-friendly landscaping at multiple Texas campuses. As of 2020, this project was able to seed several additional green spaces, and they continue to seed more wildflowers and pollinator friendly plants.