Psomas Headquarters: Los Angeles Number of offices: 19 Total number of employees: 805 Year firm was established: 1946 Total billings for last fiscal year: $122 million

Many of us in the engineering profession have been practicing the principles of green design for years. The difference today is that sustainable design has finally come to the forefront, opening up exciting opportunities in our engineering companies as well as in the markets we serve.

In-house: A re-energized workforce
There is a new energy among our employees here at Psomas. In general, those of us in the engineering field had gotten to a point where most of our work had become standardized: Our focus was on meeting approval agency standards or traditional client expectations. Now, because sustainability demands new approaches, we are focusing on innovative design solutions. It is giving our employees an opportunity to develop a new expertise—and is re-energizing all of us in the process.

Because sustainability has become a social movement, Psomas’ reputation as a company on the front lines of sustainable engineering helps us attract and retain good employees. People see us as a good company to work for because we truly believe in sustainability. It is part of our vision, and we are implementing sustainable solutions in the vast majority of our projects.

We now have the opportunity to "practice what we preach," too. Usually we are designing systems for others, but in the design of our new Los Angeles corporate headquarters we worked on a floor plan to maximize natural light, on choosing carpet made from recycled materials, and on furnishing our offices with a 90-percent recyclable modular furniture system.

New market opportunities
This is an exciting time for the engineering profession. The world is realizing a need for a solution due to the depletion of its limited resources. We, as civil engineers, are part of that solution. Our services command a higher value because we are not just working on standard design problems; we are helping to solve one of the major global issues of the day.

The push for sustainable solutions has opened up countless new opportunities in Psomas’ land, transportation, and water markets. And since sustainability is in its infancy, this is a market opportunity that will continue to grow. We will continue to invent new approaches, continue to innovate, and to try new things. We all have exciting opportunities to grow with this market.

We also have the opportunity to be part of "big picture" solutions. Sustainability is about systems that are beyond engineering: integrating technology, social considerations, marketing, and education. All of these fields come together in sustainability. As engineers, we are now part of the bigger social picture.

The advent of the sustainable design movement is requiring engineering companies to ask their employees to become experts in something new. This has created a level playing field. Now there is no difference between larger companies and smaller companies: We are all starting at the same level in this new market. Small companies have as much opportunity as big companies, giving smaller companies a chance to shine.

Another new opportunity for us stemming from growing interest in sustainability is our ability to act as a bridge between environmentalists and the development community. While possibly adversarial in the past, today more environmentalists and developers want to work together. And engineers are in the best position to teach them how to talk to each other. We understand the expectations of both the environmentalist and the developer. We are in the best position to educate both sides on how to work together to balance the natural and the built environment.

The challenges
Of course no new opportunities come without challenges. We must continually work to come up with fresh ideas that clients will value. We must convince the approval agencies that sustainable solutions require new approaches that may also be new to them. We must bring reality into the picture and not get so carried away that we neglect to balance costs and benefits.

In the end, the sustainability movement spells opportunity for our employees, for our company, and for our clients, not to mention for our planet.


Jacob Lipa, P.E., is president of Psomas, a consulting engineering firm specializing in services to the transportation, water/wastewater, and land development markets throughout the Western United States. He can be contacted at jlipa@psomas.com. For more information, visit www.psomas.com.