GREEN ENGINEERING
	In order to sustain itself into the future, our society must find development patterns that respect the natural environment. Recognizing the pivotal role we play in accomplishing this goal, CSW/ST2 stresses environmental responsibility and stewardship in our planning, design, and construction projects. As a firm with an in-house environmental planning division, the incorporation of sustainable measures within our planning and design work is a longstanding and regular extension of what we do. On recent projects we have designed sustainable/green features to control erosion and sedimentation, meeting or exceeding the United States Environmental Protection Act’s standards in these areas. Some of these measures include: The management of stormwater runoff through evapo-transpiration landscaped areas The reuse of storm water on site Bioswale construction Preservation of natural features Hydroseeding to permanently stabilize disturbed soil Erosion control blankets Use of filters around drain inlets The design and implementation of pervious paving systems
	Our multi-disciplinary approach to design makes us particularly well-suited to promote and explore sustainable engineering designs. This includes the consideration of the financial, social/cultural and environmental aspects of a client’s or organization’s project. We seek out ways to accomplish low energy design, maximize natural evapo-transpiration, water conservation and the use of new resource-efficient technologies. Our aim is to optimize the use of resources over the life of our projects. Site design is often key to setting the stage for an efficient and “environmentally friendly” building. The routing of the site’s infrastructure that services a multi-building site can be reviewed to take advantage of resource-efficient utility distribution. Combined scaling of multi-building systems can be reviewed and analyzed. CSW/ST2 is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council. We typically use the LEED™ rating system as a framework for developing design options in the early stages of project design. Experience shows that if this approach is taken from the onset of design there is a minimal cost increase in projects. In effect, the sustainable design approach presents the team with a series of choices to be made, helping us to evaluate and select design directions that respect the natural environment while achieving our clients’ objectives. CSW/ST2 provided Structural Engineering services on the first certified “green built” custom residence in Santa Rosa. Our “green” design contributions included the use of prefabricated trusses and the use of 15% recycled fly ash in the concrete on this 3,900 square foot home.