Sustainability and Management Consulting

A recent project secured senior leadership support for a large green hydrogen project in the UK. Specifically, our analysis revealed significant financial upside for the project, including forecasted sales growth, fewer greenhouse gas taxes and the ability to secure government grants that could provide a sizable ROI for this global consumer products company. With the project now moving ahead the company is:

- Anticipating elimination of more than 25,000 metric tons of greenhouse gasses annually, representing an approximate 35% reduction in Scope 1 emissions across all their operations in the UK.

- Receiving public recognition for their leadership as the first among competitors to pursue decarbonization of thermal energy sources, planning this switch from natural gas to hydrogen made with renewable power.

We collected and analyzed data from more than 100 company facilities and suppliers worldwide to help one of our large food clients better understand and manage important water security risks and opportunities across their agricultural commodity and operating supply chain. These efforts involved engaging directly with the company’s facilities and key suppliers to identify current and future water-related risks, along with priority areas the company will target for future environmental improvements (e.g., modernizing agricultural practices to both reduce water use and improve groundwater recharge) in ways that will build greater sustainability and resilience into their supply chain, today and long into the future.

To address the complex challenges of plastic waste while maintaining consumer demands in an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible manner, we have helped form and facilitate the National Lubricant Container Recycling Coalition (NLCRC). This industry-led technical coalition of lubricant and packaging manufacturers drives solutions for post-consumer recovery and recycling of the industry's packaging. NLCRC aims to establish a program in the United States that recovers and recycles plastic packaging used to transport lubricants for commercial and consumer use that, at a minimum, meets the definition of recyclable.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is developing a 235-megawatt, 60-turbine wind farm named Anpetu Wi (“morning light”) to provide clean energy, independence, and sustainability for their community.

As part of their commitment to self-determination, the Tribe made history by creating their own public power authority, the Standing Rock Renewable Energy Power Authority (also known as SAGE), to own and operate all the energy production assets within the reservation.

After several years of planning, SAGE selected SWCA in the fall of 2021 to assess the potential environmental impacts associated with developing this large-scale wind project.

Have you heard about the solar industry’s pollinator push? Utility-scale solar developers are reconsidering how to best manage the ground cover for their projects—and they’re buzzing about pollinator-friendly vegetation.

“Our clients recognize that it’s becoming the norm to operate more sustainably and add layers of value to their developments,” comments SWCA’s National Client Services Director of Power Generation. “Utility-scale solar projects and native pollinator vegetation pose a unique opportunity: using nature-based solutions to add value to our clients’ long-term bottom line, the communities they operate in, and the environment.”

Shaped by rivers, sounds, and the Atlantic Ocean, the coastal regions of North Carolina offer thousands of miles of scenic waterfront. Yet, due to the increasing impacts of climate change, these very waterways threaten the livelihood of a coastline dotted with historic towns and millions of residents. North Carolina launched its Resilient Coastal Communities Program (RCCP) in 2021 as a framework for counties and municipalities to prepare for coastal hazards through technical and financial support. 

An afternoon thunderstorm rolls across the plains of northern Texas and on the banks of the Red River, the former cattle pastures and agricultural fields at Riverby Ranch slowly begin to fill with water. But there is no cause for concern; in fact, everything is going according to plan. As the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) creates the area’s first major reservoir in nearly 30 years only a few miles from the Ranch, SWCA’s stream and wetland restoration plans will offset habitat lost to the new lake’s rising waters with a flood of its own – creating protected waterways and wetlands where cattle once grazed.

SWCA has been working with West Bay Sanitary District since 2020 to design and permit a living shoreline that will protect critical wastewater infrastructure in San Francisco Bay. SWCA’s environmental engineers designed an ecotone levee that will allow existing marsh habitat to migrate upslope with sea-level rise, reducing the impacts that sea-level rise will have on the infrastructure.