Sustainability and resilience

When your facility is designed with sustainability and resiliency in mind, you can feel confident in your environmental consciousness, your energy savings and the comfort level experienced by the people who use your building or roadway. Our specialists are keenly interested in helping you address these critical issues and plan for a more energy-efficient future.

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We stand ready to help you with:

  • realizing the positive environmental impact of implementing sustainable building practices and using renewable and energy-efficient sources and equipment to reduce your carbon footprint, as well as designing projects using materials and resources more efficiently and effectively and reducing waste while conserving natural resources
  • highlighting the economic benefits of investing in resilient and sustainable infrastructure — which can greatly reduce energy and operating costs while lowering the need for future repairs necessitated by nonresilient materials and techniques — while increasing their overall property values
  • improving the quality of life by designing sustainable and resilient buildings that can provide healthier living and work environments and withstand natural disasters and climate impacts while providing continuity of services
  • planning to mitigate climate risks with buildings and systems that are designed to stand up to the increasing occurrences of extreme weather and climate events, reducing the risk of damage and disruption

By increasing the sustainability and resiliency of your building, systems and projects, we help you accomplish projects that are environmentally friendly, economically viable and beneficial for your long-term needs.

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Coastal restoration and resilience

Our coastlines face increasing threats from severe storms, erosion, rising sea levels and other environmental challenges. We understand your concern for your community and the coastal ecosystems whose preservation matters to your residents and the environment. Our team has the knowledge, experience and resources to help you restore your coastal areas and strengthen them for the future.

Road that has been destroyed from the hurricane; water and debris on the road; rainy day; wires and palm tree laying on the road.
Hurricane Nicole caused significant roadway damage in Vilano Beach in November 2022

Restoration

Preserving, enhancing and rehabilitating coastlines has become an essential engineering practice. The significance of coastal ecosystems — such as wetlands, mangroves and reefs — cannot be overstated; they play a critical role in supporting biodiversity, protecting shorelines and sequestering carbon.

Our engineers use a range of techniques and methods to address these issues in infrastructure projects. Our specialists frequently collaborate with ecologists, urban planners and policymakers to create sustainable solutions. A common strategy involves reinforcing shorelines with natural materials, such as sand and vegetation, alongside other stabilization methods, including seawalls and permeable surfaces.

Integrating living shorelines into our projects is another approach we often use. These shorelines’ natural elements, such as plants and oyster reefs, stabilize your coastline while fostering biodiversity. This tactic increases the resilience of coastal areas against storm surges and helps restore habitats for a variety of marine species.

Successful coastal restoration initiatives depend on collaboration and community involvement. We will actively engage your community and stakeholders throughout your project’s planning and implementation processes to effectively incorporate their insights and needs.

Resilience

We frequently integrate infrastructure resiliency — including transportation networks, utilities, communication systems and buildings — into our design and construction projects so they can withstand, adapt to and swiftly recover from disruptions caused by natural disasters, human activities and other unforeseen events.

Our partnership with you plays a vital role in enhancing the resilience of your coastlines. We design and manage infrastructure that enhances robustness, flexibility and responsiveness. Effective engineering can also help offset the impact of adverse events and maintain the continuity of your essential services. Resilient infrastructure can absorb shocks, quickly regain functionality after disruptions and evolve to better withstand future challenges.

Many states, especially in coastal regions, have developed policies to incorporate resilience strategies into future infrastructure upgrades. For instance, the Florida Department of Transportation’s policy emphasizes the importance of considering the ability of the state’s transportation system “to support safety, mobility, quality of life, and economic prosperity, while preserving the quality of our environment and communities.” Our experienced team incorporates innovative design and technology with multidisciplinary civil engineering resources to help you reach this level of resilience. While collaborating with local communities, state and federal agencies and various consultants, we can complete infrastructure projects that effectively address the interconnected needs of your community.

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Clint Smith, P.E. (FL), CFM
Assistant vice president and Florida disciplines manager
Office phone: (904) 423-5360
Email: csmith2@hanson-inc.com

Microgrids and energy resilience

Maintaining high-quality operations is critical for your customers, and energy resilience is key to growing in our modern, interconnected economy. We equip you with energy resilience strategies that incorporate increased energy efficiency, dependable service infrastructure, varied generation capacity, strong relationships with local utilities and a long-term plan to identify and react to future energy needs.

We support projects involving microgrid design, implementation and energy resilience solutions, helping you build more reliable, sustainable and adaptable power systems. As the demand for energy independence and reliability grows, microgrids have become an increasingly vital solution for communities, utilities and industries looking to enhance their energy security. You can depend on us for comprehensive services that span the lifecycle of microgrid projects, from feasibility studies and planning to design, permitting and construction support. Our team integrates cutting-edge technologies to create scalable, efficient and resilient systems that can operate independently or in coordination with the broader grid.

Renewable energy for a renewable future

How important is your facility’s ability to function during outages? Whether you are a municipality, university, military installation, industrial facility or other type of entity, our microgrid solutions focus on enhancing energy resilience by enabling critical infrastructure to maintain power during grid outages or other disruptions.

We design systems that incorporate renewable energy sources, energy storage and advanced control technologies — systems that meet your specific needs and balance energy resilience with cost-effectiveness and environmental sustainability. Our interdisciplinary team of engineers, planners and energy specialists manage every aspect of microgrid development, from site assessment and grid integration to regulatory compliance and operational optimization.

As your vision comes together, we promote system performance and long-term resilience with commissioning services that include energy modeling, grid integration and performance monitoring, as well as regulatory and permitting support to meet local, state and federal requirements. Our approach emphasizes flexibility and adaptability so microgrids can evolve over time as energy needs change.

Let us help you position your facility for a strong future with:

  • assessment and planning: We’ll conduct thorough assessments of your energy needs and vulnerabilities, plus evaluate the potential for integrating renewable energy sources and identifying critical loads that need to be prioritized during outages.
  • design and implementation: We can design microgrid systems tailored to your requirements, which may include selecting appropriate technologies, such as solar panels, wind turbines, battery storage and control systems.
  • integration with existing systems: This involves verifying that the microgrid can seamlessly integrate with the power grid and setting up systems that allow the microgrid to operate in grid-connected and island (independent operation during grid outages) modes.
  • efficiency: We work to improve the performance of the microgrid by balancing energy generation and consumption. This includes implementing advanced control systems that manage energy flows and storage efficiently.

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Ivan Meneses, P.E. (FL), CEM
Senior commissioning engineer
Office phone: (813) 426-9524
Email: imeneses@hanson-inc.com

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Wade Conlan, P.E. (CO, FL, GA, IL, MS, NV, NY, NC, PA, VA), CxA, LEED® AP
Assistant vice president and commissioning and energy discipline manager
Office phone: (321) 214-9303
Mobile phone: (407) 716-9997
Email: wconlan@hanson-inc.com

Barry_Rowe

Barry Rowe, P.E. (IL)
Senior electrical engineer
Office phone: (217) 747-9239
Mobile phone: (217) 414-6426
Email: browe@hanson-inc.com

Sustainability planning

Whether you are looking to reduce your carbon footprint or increase your energy security, we deliver practical, high-impact strategies that help you navigate the energy transition. We tailor our solutions to enhance your project’s sustainability, resilience and efficiency. Some ways we partner with you include:

  • sustainability consulting: helping clients develop strategies to reduce carbon emissions and meet regulatory, as well as energy, sustainability and resilience goals through data-driven solutionsA green leaf made to look like a lightbulb on white background
  • climate risk and resilience planning: assessing vulnerabilities and integrating adaptation strategies into infrastructure projects
  • community climate action planning: supporting municipalities and organizations in developing actionable sustainability and resilience strategies
  • decarbonization and electrification roadmaps: future-proofing real estate portfolios with data-driven solutions, including implementing energy-efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning; lighting; and renewable systems to make the most of building performance
  • resilience hub design: creating community-based infrastructure that supports residents and withstands disruptions while coordinating resource distribution and services before, during or after a natural hazard event
  • renewable energy, resilient utility and microgrid solutions: supporting infrastructure reliability through distributed energy resources and grid modernization
  • green infrastructure and stormwater management: designing nature-based solutions for flood control, water quality and climate resilience
  • energy and carbon assessments: identifying efficiency opportunities and pathways to net-zero emissions for facilities and infrastructure
  • sustainable transportation planning: developing innovative and sustainable multimodal transportation plans that integrate mass transit, biking, walking and emerging mobility solutions to enhance connectivity and reduce environmental impact
  • alternative materials selection and low-impact construction contract administration: incorporating sustainable materials, low-carbon methods and waste reduction in project execution

From transportation and aviation to higher education and industrial facilities, we bring innovative engineering to the industries shaping tomorrow.

Our commitments and memberships include:

  • U.S. Green Building Council
  • Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure Envision Sustainability Professional certification
  • Airport Cooperative Research Program
  • various regional climate action initiatives and resilience coalitions

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Amanda Polematidis, P.E. (FL), CxA, LEED® AP
Associate project manager
Office phone: (904) 775-3436
Email: apolematidis@hanson-inc.com

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Discussions with Energy Leaders

Hanson’s video series features interviews with top experts and leaders in the fields of energy, sustainability and resilience about the latest trends and key issues.

Our services
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An innovative approach to energy

Our energy services are rooted in sustainability. We combine innovation with practical knowledge and experience to give you a result that improves your power systems while considering market trends. Energize your future with us!