Flooding versus Drainage

Flooding versus Drainage

by | Apr 7, 2022 | Civil Engineering

Although homes are not living organisms, they do require care and attention. However, we often ignore our homes until something goes wrong and the need for maintenance is evident and immediate repairs follow. For example, the other day, after returning from a long...
Life without Cars

Life without Cars

by | Mar 20, 2022 | Sustainable

In recent years, the San Francisco Planning Department has taken the stance to eliminate parking in many new housing development projects. In other words, many of the new multi-family residential buildings currently under design or construction in the City will not...
Room Additions and Utilities

Room Additions and Utilities

by | Mar 19, 2022 | Architecture

As demand for housing increases, which causes home prices to continue to climb, more and more people continue to look into remodeling their existing homes, adding rooms or converting them, and building accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on their existing properties. All...
Living Walls as Retaining Walls

Living Walls as Retaining Walls

by | Mar 10, 2022 | Sustainable

I saw a sticker about civil engineers a long time ago, which read: “Civil engineers always try to ‘pave’ the world. At the time, I was fresh out of college and understood what that barb meant. As civil engineers, we are trained in calculus, statics,...
Climate Change and Civil Engineering

Climate Change and Civil Engineering

by | Feb 28, 2022 | Architecture

It should be no surprise to anyone that climate change is a reality and that our world is being impacted by it. However, it is surprising how we often, if not always, ignore the overall effect of climate control and do not take it as seriously as we should. Droughts...
The need for more rooftop gardens

The need for more rooftop gardens

by | Feb 15, 2022 | Sustainable

The current housing crisis across California and the legislature is pressuring cities to allow more and taller residential buildings are creating even denser neighborhoods and cities. In San Francisco, for example, which is surrounded by water on all three sides and...
Sustainability and Social Equity

Sustainability and Social Equity

by | Jan 29, 2022 | Sustainable

Even though social equity is one of the three pillars of sustainability, the other two being environmental protection and economic viability, it is a component that we often miss, misinterpret and misunderstand. And I include myself in this group now because I had an...
The Built Environment and Effective Teamwork

The Built Environment and Effective Teamwork

by | Jan 25, 2022 | Sustainable

A long time ago, I attended a workshop at Stanford University regarding negotiation. And although I gathered great information and insight into this topic, the one statement that still reverberates with me to this day was this: “in negotiation, it is important to...