GREEN BUILDING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Our Green Building Projects The Mothers' Club of Pasadena Poly Canyon Village, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity House, San Luis Obispo South Vine Street Reconstruction, Paso Robles

The Earth Systems group of companies (Earth Systems) is committed to an active role in Green Building and sustainable development by exploring new ideas and concepts, responding to our clients' needs, and adapting to new technologies that further the goal of creating healthful environments. Green Building results from a comprehensive project design that focuses on increasing the efficient use of natural resources while attempting to reduce the impact of development on humans and the environment during the lifetime of the building.  As geoprofessionals, Earth Systems can contribute to this effort by providing vital geotechnical, geologic, hydrogeologic, and materials engineering expertise to Green Building projects from the ground up.

U.S. Green Building Council and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

Sustainable Sites

• Site selection. Geotechnical recommendations to facilitate environmentally-sensitive development and low-impact construction.
• Reduced site disturbance. Geotechnical recommendations for minimal-impact grading operations, and use of alternative foundation systems, geophysical methods of subsurface imagery.
• Brownfield redevelopment. Preliminary Site Assessments, Environmental Site Assessments, hazardous materials remediation in soil and groundwater.
• Stormwater design. Infiltration tests to evaluate the capacity of soils to absorb stormwater; geotechnical recommendations related to the effects of stormwater infiltration on groundwater, foundations, and slopes; design of stormwater infiltration systems such as dry wells, trenches, and galleries; environmental monitoring of stormwater and groundwater; materials engineering and testing for pervious pavement.

Water Efficiency

• Innovative wastewater technologies. On-site wastewater treatment systems to facilitate reuse of wastewater for irrigation or other non-potable purposes; percolation tests to evaluate the capacity of soils or bedrock to absorb wastewater; geotechnical evaluation of adverse impacts on groundwater, foundations or slopes; environmental sampling of wastewater and groundwater; geotechnical recommendation for the use of gray water.

Materials and Resources

• Building reuse. Non-destructive testing of unreinforced masonry and concrete: foundation evaluation; forensic evaluation of damaged or distressed structures; environmental site assessments and remediation.
• Construction waste management. Geotechnical and materials engineering recommendations to facilitate the diversion of used materials from landfills.
• Materials reuse. Construction materials engineering to facilitate the reuse of materials such as concrete, masonry, and asphalt as aggregate base below pavement or road shoulder backing.
• Recycled content. Mix designs for concrete, asphalt, and grout that incorporate the waste material fly ash and recycled content.  Laboratory testing of materials containing recycled content.

• New Construction
• Core and Shell
• Schools
• Retail
• Healthcare
• Neighborhood Development
• Homes

The concepts of efficient utilization of resources such as water, soil, energy, and building materials are crucial for future sustainability, and they challenge designers to look for uncommon solutions to common problems.  While these may result in benefits from a Green perspective, they can also present challenges from a geotechnical perspective. This has given rise to the need for geoprofessionals to address the potential geotechnical impacts Green practices may have on projects, particularly at the beginning stages of the design process.

 

From a geotechnical and construction materials engineering standpoint, there are numerous measures that can be incorporated into a project to reduce its environmental and cultural impact.  These include taking advantage of natural site topography and favorable soil and groundwater conditions during site selection; reuse and recycling of existing construction materials; incorporating designs for retaining stormwater onsite, and designing systems for treatment of wastewater onsite.

Renewable and Alternative Energies