Executing our Milwaukee BMO Tower move with the environment in mind

Our 170-year history in, and commitment to, the Milwaukee community is represented in the 336-foot BMO Tower, as is our commitment to reducing our impact on the environment. While the future of work may look a little different, the tower will provide employees with a transformational, safe and collaborative office environment in a critical market for BMO.  And, to top it off, the building has been certified by Green Globes and features many environmentally conscious components.

In addition to the BMO Tower itself, another major project was the decommissioning of the two offices that previously served as home for over 600 employees – four floors in the Milwaukee Center and 12 floors in the 770 N. Water Tower.

“At the beginning we knew there would be a lot of items, from chairs to cabinets to refrigerators and everything in between. The team went into the work with a driving goal – to keep these items out of landfills and ensure the process was a reflection of our environmental values.”

– Walter Wallace, Head, Global Real Estate Operations, CRE

Decommissioning over 500,000 square feet of space – that’s nine football fields – the team met their goal, with zero waste being sent to the landfill.

Partnering with CH Coakley and Covanta during the decommissioning, we were able to recycle 379 tons of waste and 240 tons of metal.

The team also ensured that our inventory of furniture identified during the process would be used to benefit the community. Roughly 1,355 pieces of furniture were donated to 42 local non-profits.

“Our commitment to sustainability and growing the good encompasses all we do. We’re committed to impacting our communities in the most positive way and the BMO Tower, and all the work in getting our space ready, is just one example of how we can boldly drive change.”

– Kara Kaiser, Head of U.S. Workplace Transformation, CRE

You can read more about our environmental practices and performance here.