RMH is committed to be a responsible corporate citizen and has a proud history of giving back to those individuals and groups who have contributed to our success.
We also feel it is important to assist the broader community. To show our commitment and appreciation, RMH has long supported organizations and programs that provide needed services to our community, educate the future leadership of our industry, and promote sustainable practices.
Community Involvement
RMH has been an active member of the local metro Denver community for 60 years. We regularly support non-profit organizations and individuals through financial contributions and through volunteering of time and expertise.
A few of the community organizations and events we support include:
The Action Center
The RMH Group is proud to partner with The Action Center, a non-profit organization in Jefferson County, Colorado, and a “neighbor” just down the street. Founded in 1968, The Action Center has been helping the poor, working poor, and homeless in Jefferson County for more than 50 years. It serves more than 20,000 individuals each year, approximately 40% of whom are children under the age of 18. The Action Center provides counseling, job connection services, healthcare assistance, rental and utilities assistance, food, and clothing for its clients. It even operates a shelter for individuals, couples, and families in Jefferson County – the only shelter of its kind in a county of over 575,000 people.
In 2009, after having already provided financial support to The Action Center for several years, RMH boosted its commitment and became a Self Sufficiency Society member. With this status, RMH has committed to supporting The Action Center for five-year terms at pre-set donation levels. The firm recently renewed its five-year commitment at $10,000 a year for the next five years. Some RMH employees are also Self Sufficiency Society members. Since RMH and its employees started their support, over $100,000 has been donated to The Action Center.
In addition to donating financial resources, a significant number of RMH employees volunteer at various Action-Center-sponsored events including packing school supplies in August, packing food boxes for the large Thanksgiving food distribution in November, and helping with the Santa Shop toy distribution in December.
Jefferson County Head Start
Jefferson County Head Start is a preschool program that provides a range of services in the areas of education, early childhood development, medical, dental, mental health, nutrition, family support, and parent involvement. For more than a decade, RMH and its staff have sponsored two school classes of Head Start children as part of a holiday season program that provides gifts to those who might not otherwise receive them.
RMH recognizes that many well-trained engineering students are needed to facilitate the incredible changes to our buildings and energy systems in the coming decades, and we continue to support local educational institutions producing the next generation of engineers. In addition, we believe it is important to assist the schools and programs that have provided many of our employees with needed training to “jumpstart” their engineering careers. Educational outreach is also accomplished through presentations to other members of the A/E community and to the owners and operators of buildings we design.
Sustainable Leadership and Focus on Carbon Reduction
At RMH, sustainability and carbon reduction are woven into the fabric of everything we do. These increasingly important measures to safeguarding our environment influence what we purchase, the community activities we support, and how we work. We also support organizations promoting carbon reduction, and staff members continue to provide industry guidance on sustainable design practices.
Renewable Energy Credits
To completely offset carbon emissions from the firm’s office operations and business travel, RMH purchases renewable energy credits. The credits fund U.S. wind and solar farms that produce clean, emission-free power.
Low-Carbon-Emission Transportation Options
To help encourage staff members to use low-carbon-emission methods of transportation, all part- and full-time employees are given Eco Passes, allowing them unlimited use of bus and light rail service around metro Denver. Many RMH employees are active in Bike to Work Day which is an annual event held in June that encourages employees to utilize a no-carbon-emission form of transportation.
Minimizing Impact of Office Activities on the Environment
Other in-house sustainable initiatives include using encouraging teleconferencing and implementing an extensive building-wide recycling program.
Sustainably Designed Office Renovation
RMH’s offices are located in the highly energy-efficient Golden Hill Office Center in Lakewood, Colorado. RMH engineered the original design for Golden Hill, which was the first multi-tenant commercial development in the country selected for sponsorship by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Research Institute (now National Renewable Energy Laboratory). RMH has implemented numerous sustainable upgrades to its offices.
Sustainable Upgrades to RMH’s Office Building (LEED-EB)
In addition to implementing the green upgrades to our own offices in the Golden Hill Office Center, RMH served as LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) project administrator for the entire office building which achieved LEED-EB Silver certification in 2008. RMH also provided the following energy-efficiency/sustainable design upgrades to Golden Hill.
Integration of the three roof-mounted 10 kW photovoltaic arrays with the facility’s existing electrical system
Replacement of pneumatic controls with Honeywell Tritium DDC building automation controls with energy dashboard
Re-piping of the cooling towers, new indirect cooling coil for the cooling towers, and new pump to lower cooling tower pumping horsepower and to increase cooling capacity
Replacement of five existing boilers with one 95%-efficient condensing boiler and two supplemental non-condensing boilers (87% efficient) with stand-alone boiler controller
Replacement of two heating water pumps with more efficient pumps and motors
Upgrade/replacement of VAV box controls and actuators in Building A with new digital controls and electric actuators
