Civil Engineering: Rethinking Water Projects

by Kamal Obeid | Oct 9, 2015 | Landtech Blog, The Way of the Land

Water storage on a municipal scale in the West used to involve building dams and reservoirs such as the Folsom Dam, which would gush with water from the melting snow of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Now the snowpack is at its lowest measured record, and the water levels of the reservoir may run so low this year that pumps will have to be installed to push water through the dam. Unfortunately, these warming conditions are likely to continue. In response to the “new normal” of drought conditions, the community of civil engineers and local jurisdictions must take a sustainable approach and rethink infrastructure to deal with potential severe water shortages. With the drought looming overhead (and below), here are four examples of water projects throughout the Bay Area and California involving desalination, groundwater recharge, stormwater capture, and recycled water.

Sustainable Development: Invest in a Green Roof?

by Kamal Obeid | Sep 10, 2015 | Landtech Blog, The Way of the Land

When you think of sustainable development in the California Bay Area, you may think of CEQA, solar panels, and environmentally-friendly hipsters, but green roofs will probably not come to mind. Though San Francisco has some green infrastructure projects, the Bay Area region lags behind areas such as Washington, D.C., which led the country in 2012 with 1.2 million square feet of new green roofs. There are grand exceptions like Facebook’s newest campus in the Bay Area that contains a gigantic roof garden complete with trees, walkways, and sitting areas, or the living roof of the California Academy of Sciences. But is it worth investing in a green roof when building in the Bay Area?

The #1 Sustainable Development Feature for Silicon Valley Tech Companies

by Kamal Obeid | Aug 4, 2015 | Landtech Blog, The Way of the Land

Sustainable development for growing high-tech companies in Silicon Valley signifies they meet their present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. But green building is not just a buzzword for Apple, Google, Facebook, and other technology giants–they are incorporating environmentally-friendly features into their new campus developments. However, the number of solar panels or the acres of green space in a new campus is not as important as the impact the development has on the surrounding community. Community-oriented development, or the creation of vibrant communities, is the number one sustainable development feature for new technology company developments.

Silicon Valley is privileged to be home to three of the biggest technology companies in the world: Apple in Cupertino, Google in Mountain View, and Facebook in Menlo Park. The most important factor to the surrounding communities, however, is whether the new tech campuses are developed with the future of community in mind.