WATERTOWN, MA, Jan. 27, 2014 -- VHB, a Charter Member of the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI), recently announced that it has credentialed more than 100 employees as ISI Envision™ Sustainability Professionals (ENV SPs).
At the forefront of Envision credentialing, VHB is one of only 12 engineering firms that have trained and credentialed at least 100 professionals in the ISI Envision program. The company is committed to the Envision rating system framework, which provides a basis for its designers to incorporate social, environmental and economic benefits into its projects, including land development, energy and transportation.
ISI's Envision is an industry standard providing how new horizontal infrastructure should be planned, designed and built to incorporate sustainability. Envision will benefit VHB's clients in a number of ways including producing cost-effective and smart design, helping the public perception of a project, assisting in receiving regulatory buy-in, and providing a guiding framework.
"In today's environment, the conditions and constraints under which infrastructure must perform are increasingly challenging," said ISI Executive Director Bill Bertera. "Communities are facing new challenges arising from environmental regulations, ever more scarce financial resources, and pressures associated with climate change and global warming. We need to respond to these conflicting priorities in ways that speak to broad public and societal interests."
VHB's concentration of 100 credentialed ENV SP employees is part of the company's commitment to improve how its teams plan, design, build, and operate infrastructure. In the fall of 2013, VHB hosted training sessions to encourage staff to become credentialed and more importantly, to understand a framework for sustainable design decision-making.
See also: "ISI, AWWA partnership to develop water infrastructure sustainability rating system".
About ISI Envision™
Envision™ is the product of a joint collaboration between ISI, which was co- founded by three national engineering associations: American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), and American Public Works Association (APWA), and the Zofnass Program for Sustainable Infrastructure at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. For more information, visit www.sustainableinfrastructure.org.
About VHB
VHB's team of civil engineers, planners, designers, and environmental scientists provides consulting services to clients in the transportation, real estate, institutional, and energy industries, as well as to federal, state and local governments. Ranked 78th in the nation among top design firms by ENR, VHB collaborates with our clients and partners from offices throughout the east coast to improve mobility, and enhance communities and economic vitality, while balancing the needs of the built environment with natural, social, cultural, and historic resources. For more information, visit www.vhb.com.
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