Sustainability
Recycle. Remember. Re-imagine.
Remember the rules of the campground?
Respect the natural environment:
Take in and use only what you need
Take all your garbage with you
Leave the campground better than you found it
At Klotz Associates we’re re-imagining our processes and offering our clients opportunities for sustainable design – which can save money too. From stormwater management to sustainable roadways. Recycled concrete to native and renewable materials. LEED, LID, SSI or any sustainable criteria. Our fresh perspective helps clients balance economic development with environmental opportunities.
Klotz Associates provides award-winning engineering designs while focusing on practical, workable solutions for our clients. We’re identifying new ways to meet the needs of today without compromising the resources of tomorrow.
Sustainable. Affordable. Liveable.
Klotz Associates identifies and implements the sustainable practices that build our communities.
Sustainability News for Klotz Associates . . .
A New Roadway Project with Proven Sustainability Features
Klotz Associates is designing the Holzwarth Road Extension for Harris County. The road is being extended from its existing terminus 650 feet north of Emerson Ridge Drive to Spring Stuebner Road for 0.46 miles. The plans include roadway and drainage improvements, detention ponds, vegetated swales, and signing and pavement markings.
Through our previous work with Harris County, we have developed sustainable features for roadway design that are being incorporated into the design of this project. On the northern portion of the alignment where the design is practical, we are incorporating a median swale with local plants. This is being done instead of underground storm sewer to improve water quality and reduce costs. A swale outside the pavement is also being designed in an area with additional right-of-way to provide additional storage for detention and mitigation. The alignment of the new location roadway is being designed to minimize tree removal.
These efforts are saving project costs and minimizing the effect on the local area. The use of local plants reduces the need for irrigation and increases the success rate of the plants. Using property owned by the client for additional storage eliminated the need to buy additional property. Klotz Associates is excited to have the opportunity to provide sustainable solutions for Harris County.
Our New Sustainability Professionals
Les Pitman, PE, LEED AP, RPLS, Kevin Hoffman, PE, Wayne KLotz, PE, D.WRE and Katherine Ostroff have been certified as ENV Sustainability Professionals (ENV SP) by the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI). ISI created Envision, an infrastructure rating system developed to help designers, builders and infrastructure owners build and direct infrastructure projects toward increasing levels of sustainability. Klotz Associates is a Charter Member of ISI.
An ENV Sustainability Professional (ENV SP) is an ISI credentialed practitioner who is trained to use the Envision sustainable infrastructure rating system as a guide to address triple bottom line sustainability dimensions in the design, construction, and operation of an infrastructure project. To become an ENV SP, you must complete an application, take the ISI qualified training classes and pass the ENV SP test.Congratulations to our three new ENV SPs!
Harris County Birnamwood Drive Extension Project Presented at Bioswale Seminar
David Balmos, PE presented the Harris County Birnamwood Drive Extension Project at the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) / Houston Land Water Sustainability Forum (HLWSF) Bioswale Applications Seminar. Four other recently constructed projects were also presented to provide the engineering community information about the advantages and practical applications of bioswales. Sharing information about cost-effective sustainable design elements is just another way Klotz Associates is promoting sustainability!
Birnamwood Drive Extension Ribbon Cutting
The ribbon cutting for the Birnamwood Drive Extension Project was held on June 28, 2012. Birnamwood Drive is the first low impact development roadway in the County, and Klotz Associates prepared the design. Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle was there to cut the ribbon, and Wayne Klotz, PE, David Balmos, PE and Kevin Hoffman, PE from Klotz Associates were in attendance.
The Birnamwood Drive project incorporated sustainable elements including a median ditch instead of a typical raised median, high filtration soils and underground storage tanks to eliminate storm sewer and provide detention and mitigation. Low profile landscaping that improves water quality was planted in the median ditch. All of these efforts reduced construction costs and the impact of the project on the environment. Concepts from this project were incorporated into the County’s Low Impact Development and Green Infrastructure Design Criteria for Storm Water Management adopted in 2011.University of Texas at Austin Uses Reclaimed Water
Klotz Associates located and designed five reclaimed water meters and backflow prevention devices along the perimeter of the University of Texas Austin Campus to serve the cooling stations and cooling towers on University property. These meters will tie in to reclaimed water lines constructed by the City of Austin on Dean Keeton Street and MLK Boulevard.
Four hundred million gallons of potable water are used each year on campus for the cooling towers and irrigation. The use of reclaimed water will reduce this need and lessen the strain on the City’s potable water system. The cooling towers use the most water, and that is why they are the first facilities to receive the reclaimed water.
Using reclaimed water rather than potable water is sustainable and cost effective. Klotz Associates is proud to work on this green effort for the University. Construction of the water meters will begin this year.
