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Sustainability & Resilience

Focusing on Sustainable Practices Today to Enable a Resilient Future

Sustainability is the practice of operating and developing in a way that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Resilience is the ability to prepare and plan for, absorb, and recover from and successfully adapt to adverse events. At RS&H we see sustainability and resilience as inextricably linked and organize our work with these paired goals in mind.

We also recognize that moving toward decarbonization and building resilience and adaptive capacity to climate stressors must be built upon a strong foundation of environmental compliance, responsible site management, and a thorough and documented understanding of energy, waste, and water use and other resources.

Our integrated team of engineers, planners, architects, and environmental scientists adopts an all-encompassing approach to improve sustainability and resilience while enhancing financial performance. RS&H is ready to partner with you to help achieve your goals.

Projects

Focus Areas

Insights

Sustainability & Resilience Projects

View Sustainability & Resilience Projects

Raleigh-Durham International Airport Park Economy 3 Expansion

RS&H provides design and construction administration services for the RDU Park Economy 3 Expansion project, which nearly triples the parking capacity while enhancing environmental performance, sustainability and resilience as demonstrated by Envision Platinum verification and LEED certification.

Aviation

Parking lot with cars and people, bus station nearby, trees in background

Monroe County Coastal Storm Risk Study

RS&H is working with the Florida Department of Transportation to identify and prioritize vulnerabilities to flooding along the corridor and develop concepts to ensure the continuation of service following a flooding event now and in the future.

Transportation

Two parallel bridges over turquoise water under a clear blue sky.

Comprehensive Transportation Sustainability Consulting

With RS&H’s support, the TPO has documented 112 million gasoline gallons equivalent (GGE) displacement and over 141,000 tons of GHG emissions – equivalent to the annual emissions of over 30,000 passenger vehicles and $48,000,000 in health benefits.

Transportation

Electric car charging at a public charging station surrounded by greenery

Philadelphia International Airport

RS&H performed design and bid phase services to reconstruct Taxiway J from Taxiway Z to Taxiway Y and connect Taxiways K7, K8, and their associated safety areas.

Aviation

Aerial view of airport runway and taxiway with parked airplanes, city skyline visible in the distance.

Comprehensive Sustainability Services

Over the past 30 years, RS&H has supported continuous, data-driven sustainability performance improvement for the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA), which operates a worldwide network of over 280 commissaries and central distribution centers.

Federal

Commissary entrance with brick exterior, sign above, and a person walking inside.

Focus Areas

Flood risk map showing areas in red, yellow, and blue indicating varying risk levels around a city.

Planning & Designing for Resilience

From planning to design and construction of capital projects, confident resilience investments begin with a grounded understanding of hazard exposure and site- and operation-specific vulnerability. RS&H provides clients with a clear-eyed picture of hazards and likely consequences for assets and operations. We work collaboratively with clients to create context-responsive, cost-effective, time-based plans to improve critical operational and facility resilience to climate and other stressors. RS&H integrates resilience professionals with engineers and architects working with clients to design infrastructure, facilities, and buildings to perform efficiently and effectively under future conditions.

Solar panels arranged in a field under a clear blue sky

Net Zero Planning & Carbon Management

Achieving net zero is a holistic and dynamic process, requiring collaboration and innovation to address air quality, energy use, materials management, and water resources, as well as customer and employee well-being, transportation options, and tenant operations. Like many challenges today, there is not one solution or a straight-line path to follow to achieve net zero. RS&H’s cross-disciplinary, integrated teams collaborate to allow us to consider a range of options, from microgrid planning, to waste management, to building retro-commissioning, to fleet conversion and more. RS&H provides a matrix approach to develop options that meet your net zero goals.

Crosstown Parkway overpass with vibrant park landscaping beneath, featuring pathways, grass, and decorative patterns beside a river.

Sustainable Management & Investment

Successful sustainability plans, programs, and projects are built on a shared vision and thorough documentation of existing conditions, which is why RS&H always begins by defining a desired future state and completing a thorough baseline. Once those balancing points are defined, we co-create goals and initiatives for energy efficiency, waste management, procurement, water, and materials management to meet client needs. RS&H planners, engineers and architects develop sustainable capital plans and projects to meet programmatic sustainability goals for buildings, transportation, and stormwater infrastructure.

Electric vehicle charging stations at an airport with multiple designated spots

Microgrid Development & Renewable Power

Built on an understanding of facility needs and site characteristics, and existing power distribution systems, RS&H models distributed energy resources (DERs) such as solar arrays, battery energy storage systems, and additional distribution infrastructure, to prioritize future development to help clients build energy resilience.

Gulfport Commissary building exterior with signage, overcast sky, and parking lot in foreground

Retro-commissioning & Data Management

Working with what you have, recalibrating and updating existing systems, and replacing outdated building infrastructure are key tactics to reduce emissions and lessen waste. RS&H completes energy audits, tests building systems, identifies efficiency improvements in existing buildings and systems, implement changes, and retro-commissions buildings to make the most of what you have. RS&H provides on-going web-based data management services to verify performance efficiency, as well as energy and water-use intensity goals. Our web-based approach allows us to quickly identify and correct any changes in operational strategies that are adversely affecting energy and water-use performance.

Steel cage over storm drain in muddy water environment.

Certification & Accreditation

Third party certifications facilitate public communication and documentation of clients’ commitment to sustainability and resilience, and importantly, third party systems help organizations establish project development that ensures sustainability and resilience are in the design process from concept to construction. RS&H staff are skilled in facilitating and evaluating projects for compliance with a range of third-party certifications including Envision, LEED, the Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) program, ParkSmart, and others.

Aerial view of an airport with multiple runways surrounded by urban and green areas.

Environmental Compliance

From permitting to site investigations to monitoring compliance is doing what is required from a statutory or a regulatory perspective. RS&H takes compliance seriously and works with clients to find effective, implementable solutions to manage environmental risks, protect resources, and expedite projects responsibly. RS&H completes extensive field work to complete contamination assessments, develops stormwater management plans and pollution prevention controls, and supports permitting of development programs.

Laboratory room with stainless steel equipment and large glass door, featuring clean and sterile environment.

Sustainable Building Design

RS&H’s integrated staff teams can design your building and site from inception to completion to maximize environmental outcomes. We are skilled at energy modeling, evaluating building controls to meet client goals, documenting potential building impacts, modeling stormwater run-off and reuse opportunities, maximizing water conservation and waste minimization to develop high-performance buildings and sites that have lower energy costs, lower emissions, and contribute less to climate change. High-performance sustainable buildings can also be cheaper than baseline, code-compliant, conventional buildings and provide an enhanced occupant experience, protecting health and productivity.

Wooden boardwalk surrounded by lush green vegetation in a forest setting

Waste Management & PFAS

Whether your organization faces high disposal costs or is pursuing zero-waste initiatives, our waste diversion experts can benchmark your waste stream and identify revenue and cost-reduction opportunities through enhanced recycling, improved process efficiencies, employee education, and many other programs. Our custom-integrated web-based tracking and reporting systems provide a sustainable way for our clients to measure and continually improve their long-term recycling and waste diversion performance. From deicer management to PFAS, RS&H staff are leading industry experts in strategies to manage aviation-related waste and emerging contaminants safely.

Explore Resources

News

Alex Howard Joins RS&H to Spearhead Resilience Initiatives

February 29, 2024By Jennifer Nix McGerald, CPSM

Alex Howard joined the national engineering, architecture and consulting firm as principal consultant to lead resilience and sustainability projects in the northwest region of the country.

Alexandra Howard smiling warmly with blurred indoor background.

Insight

Transforming Airports with Envision: A Journey Towards Sustainability and Resilience

August 29, 2023By John Lengel Jr., PE, ENV SP

One tool airports can use to achieve project sustainability goals is the Institute of Sustainable Infrastructure’s (ISI) Envision® Sustainability Rating System.

Aviation

Insight

Airport Emissions Reduced Through Electrification Planning

June 27, 2023By Ben Moore, AICP, LEED AP O+M, GPCP, Ozzie Gonzalez

At RS&H, our aviation experts are proactively engaging with clients to achieve their sustainability and resilience goals through the thoughtful integration of electric vehicle charging infrastructure to meet the demand for EV adoption.

Aviation

Insight

[Podcast] Airport Resiliency and Sustainability with Tampa International

July 12, 2023

Eric Caplan and Ben Moore discuss airport resiliency and sustainability.

Aviation

An Exceptional Journey Starts at RS&H

Welcome to RS&H, where excellence has been our tradition since 1941. For over eight decades, we have set the standard in meeting the ever-changing needs of our clients and communities. Contact us to start your journey.