Greene Engineers

Source: Exec Digital USA

Date :3/18/2008 4:34:13 AM

Growing up in Silicon Valley, Greene Engineers has learnt to lead by innovation. The company is currently enjoying growth and is looking to the future with a huge sense of optimism

Written by Ian Armitage and Produced by Michael Alexander Jones

Greene Engineers was founded in San Jose 1954 as the first mechanical-electrical facilities engineering firm in the fast-growing Silicon Valley – the world’s hub of high technology. Beginning with three research buildings for Stanford University in 1955, Greene now designs facilities for companies, universities and research institutes across the globe.

Greene Engineers serves five industries – electronics, bioscience, healthcare, datacom and ‘greentech’. “The systems that we design include clean and aseptic environments, but there are many others. The list is extensive,” says Christopher Greene, Chairman, President and CEO.

Indeed, Greene’s offering is extremely comprehensive and covers everything from chemical storage, high-purity process piping, deionized water and WFI, bulk chemical delivery, industrial and biomedical waste treatment, power and lighting, process controls, emergency power and UPS systems, building management, and life safety systems.

“What has been interesting in the last couple of years is this new market that I call ‘greentech’, which has grown out of our traditional high tech markets,” adds Chris, who has worked with Greene Engineers since 1973 in various positions, including electrical designer, corporate officer and director. He continues: “Greentech includes things like solar energy, nanotechnology, thin film, low-power LEDs, and biofuels. These are extremely fast growing markets, full of potential.”

Greene Engineers is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council and is dedicated to environmentally sound and energy efficient designs. Greene has LEED-accredited engineers to assist clients with LEED certification for industrial and office projects. “That market is developing very rapidly and we are right in the thick of it,” he adds. “We are currently involved in a high profile project at Stanford University to design its new Engineering Quad, which is designed to LEED platinum standards. It continues a partnership that has gone on for more than 50 years.”

Strong performance

In addition to the promise of greentech, Greene’s traditional markets remain strong. Since the earliest days of Silicon Valley, Greene has been a leader in electronics facility design. While some perceive this market declining in Silicon Valley, Chris says that their clients are enjoying robust growth. Greene continues to engineer facilities for semiconductor, semiconductor equipment and materials, aerospace, and computer companies.

“We are also heavily involved in bioscience,” says Chris. “Our heritage in biotechnology began in the mid-60s and expanded greatly as the industry grew in the Bay Area and beyond.”

Greene’s healthcare work is predominantly for the demanding environment of hospitals, but also includes medical research facilities, clinics and medical office buildings. Greene also designs the electrical and mechanical systems that meet the demanding requirements of mission-critical datacom facilities, with an emphasis on large corporate data centers.

“We are enjoying a fortuitous period in that all our markets are growing strongly right now,” continues Chris.

Vast knowledge, repeat business

Greene employs extremely high calibre people. The average tenure for a Greene employee is around 20 years – highly unusual in Silicon Valley. “This is rare not just in Silicon Valley but for engineering firms in general, where there are often lots of comings and goings,” says Chris. “We have an excellent group of people who are not only good at what they do, but are great people generally. Greene is a good place to work, people want to be here and that has been the key. We have a high standard of professionalism and a good group of people who set those standards.”

As a result, Greene has built a reputation that precedes it. “We have a good reputation globally in high tech,” adds Chris, who has overall responsibility for the activities of the firm.

The majority of Greene’s business is with the repeat clients that have grown up in Silicon Valley. Being in its specialty markets from their beginnings has given Greene Engineers a unique advantage. “Some of our relationships go back decades,” says Chris. “We have a number of customers for whom we do all or most of their work. Our excellent staff is key to that.”

He adds: “While we focus on markets that require sophisticated engineering, we also want diversity because each industry is cyclical in its own way. Some have fast cycles like semiconductors and others, like biotech, have longer cycles. By having diversity and being in multiple high-tech markets, we are able to balance out those cycles to a considerable degree.”

In Silicon Valley, a market that never stands still, it is important to follow the technology trends as they develop, according to Chris. “Among the things that have allowed us to be successful is that we don’t try to over-plan the future. Rather, we try to keep in touch with where markets are going right now and then figure out how we can best serve those markets, being flexible enough to adapt to the fast changing environment that defines Silicon Valley. Our strategy has been more focused on adaptability and service than predicting the future because the future changes so quickly here. Adaptability has been a key part of our strategy,” says Chris, who became President and CEO of Greene Engineers in 1990, then Chairman in 1998.

Although there are challenges in the market, Chris doesn’t believe that they are much different from those the company has faced in the past: “The ongoing challenge is that high-tech facilities continue to get more complicated and more sophisticated, so we have to continue to push that envelope,” he says. “Secondly, these are global industries and we have done projects all over the world. But we are a small company, so we have developed a web of relationships that allows us to partner with people and leverage our skills.

“Most exciting of all right now is the tremendous attention that our clients – and even public policy makers – are placing on green design. Whether it is better energy efficiency, lower water use, or improved indoor environment quality, the key to achieving these goals is the engineering of the mechanical, electrical and chemical systems of the facility. And that’s what we do,” states Chris.

“Once again, Silicon Valley is at the center of a revolution in technology. This time it is green technology and we at Greene Engineers are proud to be playing a significant part in that revolution,” Chris concludes.

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