Environmental Stewardship

Daylighting simulation.

Protecting the planet is our responsibility.

Environmental stewardship reflects SGH’s dedication to protecting our planet and its resources through work and advocacy. This commitment encompasses our core values and our responsibility to make the world a cleaner and healthier place. We strive to demonstrate sustainability, resilience, conservation, and efficiency throughout our projects and corporate operations, and are committed to taking on challenges to better our communities.

At SGH, putting sustainability into practice requires a commitment to holistic and collaborative actions. We apply engineering and scientific methods to reduce environmental impacts while meeting our clients’ objectives.

Gert Guldentops presenting on Passive House practices at Bowdoin University.

Our professional commitment.

SGH team members take part in various national and local organizations and committees focused on sustainability and resilience. Our experts strive to lead their professional fields of interest, donating their time to develop standards and make recommendations for greener practices. We also embrace an obligation to share our knowledge and energy outside of the firm, actively presenting and participating in efforts across the industry.

Technical focus areas.

Embodied Carbon

Embodied carbon is the total CO₂ emissions associated with building construction, from raw material extraction to building maintenance and end-of-life decisions. These CO₂ emissions account for over 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and it is our responsibility to design efficiently and responsibly. SGH is a proud member of the SE 2050 Challenge, urging structural engineers to help reduce the embodied carbon of built structures to net zero by 2050. In addition to structural systems, we can help our clients reduce the embodied carbon of their building’s enclosure systems by using environmental product declarations and energy analysis models.

What is SE 2050?

Contact: Mark Webster

Photo by Warren Jagger

Photo by Warren Jagger

Passive House

We help our clients design projects to achieve Passive House certification, improving occupant comfort while ensuring energy efficiency in building enclosure systems. We employ an interdisciplinary approach and use energy models to design PH-certified buildings ranging from high-rises to single-family homes.

What is Passive House?

See a Passive House project example.

Contact: Cheryl Saldanha

Bowdoin College, Schiller Coastal Studies Center Orr's Island, ME

Bowdoin College, Schiller Coastal Studies Center Orr's Island, ME

Energy Modeling

We create energy models to help our clients achieve their project energy goals. Modeling allows us to provide efficient designs and recommendations and meet overarching net zero energy targets. We perform daylighting and solar shading studies, thermal bridging assessments, thermal and hygrothermal modeling of enclosure assemblies, ventilation modeling using computational fluid dynamics, and more to inform our designs.

Learn more about our holistic approach to daylighting.

Contact: Cheryl Saldanha

Daylighting simulation of clear glazing (left) and tinted glazing (right).

Daylighting simulation of clear glazing (left) and tinted glazing (right).

LEED/WELL

We help clients design projects to achieve several energy certifications, including LEED and WELL. Our LEED- and WELL-Accredited Professionals across our offices use their expertise and program certifications to assist clients in meeting energy and performance goals when providing structural and enclosure consulting services on projects. In addition, third-party building enclosure commissioners, we can help our clients achieve certification credits through energy modeling.

See a LEED project example.

Contact: Andrea Bono

MacAllen Building Condominium, Boston, MA Photo by John Horner

MacAllen Building Condominium, Boston, MA Photo by John Horner

Green Roofs & Walls

By using energy models and consulting on materials and product selection, we help our clients design green roofs and living walls that minimize environmental impacts and meet the project’s sustainability goals.

See a green roof project example.

Contact: Amy Hackney

Foundry Square III, San Francisco, CA

Foundry Square III, San Francisco, CA

Mass Timber

We support mass timber projects to help clients achieve efficient structures with well-performing enclosures. We continue to educate industry partners on mass timber construction practices through internal and external webinars and project tours.

Read about using wood as a sustainable structural material.

Contact: Jeff Langlois

Apex Plaza, Charlottesville, VA

Apex Plaza, Charlottesville, VA

We want to better thread environmental stewardship into the fabric of SGH and challenge ourselves to do better, from our project work to our individual choices.

Cheryl Saldanha, SGH Environmental Stewardship Champion

Reducing carbon emissions from the built environment is an urgent goal for the structural engineering profession, and a major reason why we continue to champion the SE 2050 Commitment program. We are eager to continue finding ways to reduce the embodied carbon of structures.

Mark Webster, SEI Sustainability Committee Co-Chair

We understand that a building’s structure, especially its concrete elements, contribute to a large portion of its embodied carbon and we want to work towards finding ways to improve this and make a difference.

Michael Tecci, SGH's SE 2050 Embodied Carbon Reduction Champion

Internal Education & Green Practices

We provide continuous staff education opportunities on sustainable design practices to all SGH team members. To share information and best practices, our Sustainability Committee publishes a recurring newsletter and promotes upcoming events and lunch talks. We also encourage employees to reduce waste, use mass transit and car alternatives, and practice healthy lifestyles.

Featured Story

Q&A Interview

Raising the Bar for Sustainability

Learn more about SGH’s Environmental Stewardship program, its goals, and how we incorporate sustainable initiatives into our engineering practices.

Read the full story

Featured projects

Mid-Atlantic

Apex Plaza

The new mixed-use building on Garrett Street provides innovative office spaces in the heart of downtown Charlottesville. SGH provided structural, building enclosure, and fire life safety consulting services for the project.

West

Westmont College, Adams Center and Winter Hall

Adams Center for the Visual Arts provides studio space, faculty offices, two general-use classrooms, a lecture hall with tiered seating, a computer lab, a darkroom, and the Westmont Museum of Art. SGH assisted the project team with the design of waterproofing and the building enclosure.

View more Sustainability projects.

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Environmental Stewardship

Protecting the planet is our responsibility.

Our professional commitment.