Sustainability

Building Resiliency into Public Works

By Amy Fredregill, Sr Director of Sustainability, WSB

Reliable resources are necessary for every municipality, and consequently, sustainability in public works programs has grown into a long-term goal for municipalities. Prioritizing sustainability and resiliency in a municipality’s infrastructure ensures that programs are reliable, so that when a user turns on their faucet or light switch, water or electricity is delivered.

Resiliency is an important part of sustainability planning. Resiliency is achieved by having a maximum number of options to be able to pivot and adapt to a disruption in an infrastructure system. For example, a main road in a user’s neighborhood could be under construction, or a resident may not have a vehicle. If the municipality has walkways or bikeways through the neighborhood, the user has the option to walk or bike to their job, store, or pharmacy. The ever-expanding choices can lead to healthier communities, encourage tourism, commerce and more.

Cultivating resiliency is not as complicated as it may sound; creating a walkway or bikeway trail system in a neighborhood is only one example. A municipality can invest in water reuse, renewable energy, energy efficiency, stormwater and flood management systems, too. The programs can be built into a large sustainability plan. Moreover, due to evolving technology, increased adoption rates and system investments, energy choices such as renewable energy and conservation can reduce costs and risks. Communities can take advantage of tax credits for renewables, rebates for conservation, and hedge financial risk through emissions reductions.

The systems we rely on – power and gas grids, water and wastewater systems – are complex and critical to daily life. With the significant progress in energy choices at our disposal, cities can offer more services to residents such as electric vehicle charging, helping them to reduce their monthly bills through energy audits and weatherization, increasing outreach and awareness on clean energy programs, and more.

Winter storms underscore the value of having a range of options at our disposal. By having a diverse menu of power generation options and increasingly energy-efficient operations, communities can be more resilient and adapt to changing circumstances. These are things that cities and communities are thinking about for their own sustainability plans. Prioritizing sustainability and resiliency in municipal systems can help prevent, adapt to and mitigate disruptions in the future.

Amy has nearly 25 years of experience across many industries, particularly energy and agriculture, in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. This experience has provided Amy with a broad background that enables her to meet community and business needs based on the business case for sustainability. By working across intersecting systems to simultaneously advance environmental, economic and social goals, she is able to uncover creative solutions.

[email protected] | 612.965.1489

Defining Sustainability at WSB

Amy Fredregill, WSB’s senior director of sustainability shares WSB’s approach to sustainability.

At WSB, as well as for many other thought leaders, sustainability simultaneously advances economic, social, and environmental outcomes, thereby meeting the needs of current and future generations. Each aspect – economic, social and environmental – is like a leg on a three-legged stool. If one leg is shorter or weaker than another, the stool is not stable. No part of the stool exists in a silo, but instead is connected as a system to serve any number of purposes.

Modern sustainability is key to finding opportunities in 21st-century challenges like waste generation, soil, air, and water pollution, and a limited supply of resources. Stakeholders are working on each challenge by designing and piloting new approaches. Community needs constantly change and often involve complex infrastructure challenges that span many systems. For example, every community requires transportation systems, sewage, water, and electric systems for quality of life.

Communities can start or scale up today, toppling the barriers to sustainability and reaping the benefits, which include cost and risk reduction, access to new markets, providing cost-effective products and services to meet consumer demand, attracting businesses and top talent to your region or company, keeping communities healthy and creating economic development. Through innovation and collaboration, maintaining each leg of sustainability- economic, social and environmental- communities are prepared to meet the needs of people now, and people tomorrow.

Sustainable solutions are realistic, cost-effective and already being used by WSB clients across the country. In the city of Hugo, Minn., a northeast Twin Cities suburb, a citywide stormwater reuse program is saving tens of millions of gallons of water a year by irrigating land with stormwater instead of water pumped from a local aquifer. The municipality and its residents save money on water and power bills, effectively turning what was once a waste stream into a revenue stream. On the heels of a one-in-100-year weather event that knocked out the power grid across all of Texas, Fort Bend County is building solar power infrastructure on over 3,200 acres of property, minimizing energy consumption and maximizing energy efficiency. In these and many other communities, we are delivering sustainable solutions, such as water reuse, stormwater and flood management, municipal resiliency and comprehensive planning, native landscaping, and renewable energy.

Sustainability enhances regional competitiveness and furthers economic development. Today, businesses and people are seeking out communities with a smaller, lighter footprint, eager to pump money into sustainable economies. Investing in solar energy can lower energy costs and improve environmental outcomes. Prairie restoration in a community park can increase ecological diversity and create a welcoming recreational area. Economic, social and environmental benefits are co-benefits, and businesses and people see them. By improving the outcomes of one, you improve the outcome of another. 

Sustainable approaches build strength into the infrastructure that supports our lives as community needs change. Through innovation and collaboration, maintaining each leg of sustainability- the economy, society and the environment – communities are prepared to meet the needs of people now and people tomorrow.

Amy has nearly 25 years of experience across many industries, particularly energy and agriculture, in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. This experience has provided Amy with a broad background that enables her to meet community and business needs based on the business case for sustainability. By working across intersecting systems to simultaneously advance environmental, economic and social goals, she is able to uncover creative solutions.

[email protected] | 612.965.1489

Starting a sustainable cycle

A virtual webinar on launching sustainable initiatives.

Organizations of all types and sizes are taking a more proactive stance on sustainability issues to meet evolving customer needs and making sustainably minded changes that can increase their revenue, reduce costs and build new markets and service. But for many one question complicates their efforts; how to get started?

In partnership with Finance & Commerce, WSB recently hosted a virtual webinar that provided examples of sustainable processes and how they came to be.

Panelists included:

• Bryan Baer, City Administrator, City of Hugo, MN
• Steve Compton, CFO and EVP at Sevana Bioenergy
• Bruce Loney, Board Manager, Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District
• Moderated by: Amy Fredregill, Director of Sustainability, WSB

During the webinar, our panelists led us through their proactive approaches to sustainability initiatives including:

• How the city of Hugo is using less water and reducing costs despite its growing population
• How a dairy farm is increasing their revenue by making and selling biogas
• How mitigating invasive carp is leading to improved water quality in a Watershed District

Watch the webinar

Download the presentation

For more information on sustainability, contact Amy Fredregill.