The JRS Sustainability Action Plan
The JRS Sustainability Action Plan (SAP) is a living, practice-wide framework that formalizes our commitment to climate-responsive, equity-driven, and ecologically regenerative design. Launched in 2025, the SAP aligns our studio’s values with the goals of the ASLA Climate Action Plan and CSLA Calls to Action, establishing measurable performance targets across both our projects and operations. Focused on themes like carbon neutrality, circular economies, biodiversity, and experiential comfort, the SAP is being co-developed with input from our full team and implemented across all project teams. More than a technical roadmap, it is a cultural shift designed to embed sustainability into the fabric of our studio and inspire ongoing research, collaboration, and innovation.
Project Statistics
- Kickoff – 2025
- Status – Ongoing
- Staff Involved – Full design team
- SAP Leads – 4
- External Partners – The University of Toronto via DRIP Program
The JRS Sustainability Action Plan (SAP) is a pivotal internal initiative marking a new chapter in the evolution of our design practice. This plan will articulate clear targets and strategies related to both our projects and our operations, including how we design, how we collaborate, and how we measure impact. As a living document, the SAP is intended to evolve alongside our practice, new research and technologies, and the ever-changing environmental and cultural context in which we work. It recognizes that meaningful action must be both systemic and flexible, anchored in best practices while remaining open to future knowledge.
The SAP will define a set of core sustainability themes, such as carbon neutrality, circular economies, biodiversity, experiential comfort, and knowledge integration (to name a few), and establish measurable performance goals for each. These targets will be informed by industry benchmarks and certification systems, including those of the CSLA, ASLA, LEED, SITES, and local regulations such as the Toronto Green Standards (TGS). Beyond compliance, the SAP emphasizes innovation: it proposes methods for integrating environmental data into our design workflows and outlines pathways for further research and applied experimentation in partnership with universities, NGOs, and peer design firms.
Recognizing the diversity of our practice, the SAP is structured for phased implementation across our three core practice areas: public, development, and residential landscapes. It supports each project team with the tools, guidance, and flexibility needed to meaningfully embed sustainable thinking at every scale and stage of work.
Equally important, the SAP is as much about culture-building as it is about project outcomes. It aims to foster a studio-wide mindset of inquiry, accountability, and shared purpose. Engagement is central to this effort; the plan is being co-developed with contributions from across our team through participatory workshops, focus group projects, internal surveys, and one-on-one conversations. This process has been designed to empower staff to take ownership of sustainability within their work and to see research, experimentation, and advocacy as part of their daily practice.
While the SAP is being led by a core working group with support from senior management, it is intended to represent the collective aspirations of JRS. It is both a mirror and a roadmap, reflecting our current values while charting a course for the future of the firm, one in which every design decision is an opportunity to contribute to a more just and sustainable world.
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