PASADENA, CA (March 22, 2016) – Parsons, in conjunction with the Sustainable Remediation Forum (SURF), recently hosted a conference—known as SURF 31—at its Pasadena corporate headquarters. The 2-day conference, themed “Climate Change and Resilience within Remediation,” brought together representatives from industry, academia, and regulatory agencies, including individuals focused on incorporating sustainability into remediation best practices.
Numerous Parsons employees participated in SURF 31, including Virginia Grebbien, Chief of Staff; Randy Britt, Director of Sustainability; Shannon O’Connell, Industrial Operations Manager; and Carrie Crozier, a Senior Geologist in the Industrial business unit. Parsons also arranged the participation of key partners in the Los Angeles area, including Heather Rosenberg, Director for the U.S. Green Building Council Los Angeles Resilience Initiative; Nurit Katz, Chief Sustainability Officer at the University of California, Los Angeles; and John Onderdonk, Director of Sustainability Programs at the California Institute of Technology.
Ms. Grebbien provided the welcome and opening remarks for SURF 31, reflecting on the importance of incorporating climate change impacts and resiliency planning within remediation as well as the need to develop flexible and creative solutions in a system with many moving parts. Mr. Britt, Ms. O’Connell, and Ms. Crozier spoke about conducting assessments for resilience. And Ms. O’Connell and Ms. Crozier delivered a presentation titled, “Incorporating Climate Change Adaptation into Remediation Design and Implementation.”
“Resilience planning ensures safe continuity of functional operations in the face of extreme stressors for facilities and other assets,” said Britt. “Parsons has a rich history of providing proven, sustainable solutions across the markets we serve, and this is a prime example of how we deliver end-to-end environmentally friendly projects that enhance communities.”
In 2014, Parsons introduced its Climate Adaptation and Resilience Planning initiative—the Next Step in Sustainability Innovation—which focuses on mitigating the impacts of climate change on critical infrastructure assets. As part of its commitment to sustainability, Parsons adds to its projects such sustainable features as renewable energy installations, energy and water efficiency, climate adaptation and resiliency planning, and construction waste management. The corporation continues to work on several sustainable design programs, including Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified projects.
About the Sustainable Remediation Forum
The Sustainable Remediation Forum (SURF) promotes the use of sustainable practices during the investigation, construction, redevelopment, and monitoring of remediation sites, with the objective of balancing economic viability, conservation of natural resources and biodiversity, and the enhancement of the quality of life in surrounding communities. For more about SURF, please visit www.sustainableremediation.org.