If you're heading a large development project or a commercial construction project, you may want to assess how the project impacts the environment. You can use that information to decide whether or not you want to move forward with the project. You can also advertise environmentally friendly elements to draw attention to your project or as part of your branding efforts.
When hiring a company to do environmental assessments, here are some of the key areas you may want to ask them to investigate.
Traffic
If you're building an office building, an apartment block, a mall, a museum or any other facility where people will be coming and going a lot, you may want to assess the environmental impact of people travelling to your facility. Are you going to be increasing the traffic and thus carbon emissions? Are you going to be decreasing traffic by putting several amenities together so people don't have to travel as much? Does your project promote public transit or bicycling in some way? These are all questions to consider.
Air Quality
The potential traffic to and from your development affects air quality indirectly, but your project may have a direct impact on the air quality in your area. That's especially true if you're creating a factory or anything that may have a large carbon output. Are there steps you can take to offset your carbon production, such as rooftop gardens or solar panels? Remember, if you're not happy with the way your project is impacting the environment, you may be able to take steps to counteract the impact.
Local Wildlife
In rural areas, you need to consider how a new development may affect migratory patterns or habitats for local wildlife. However, you should also consider the ecology in urban areas. For instance, if you integrate plants that provide homes for pollinators, that can have a positive effect on the insects in urban areas.
Water
You should ask the environmental assessment team to figure out how much water your facility will be using, and you should look into ways to reduce water consumption such as low-flow toilets or rainwater harvesting for landscape irrigation. However, at the same time, you may also want to look into how your exterior landscaping affects stormwater drainage. Ideally, you don't want the stormwater to pick up a bunch of fertilsers or chemicals and introduce them to the waterways in the area.
These are just a few of the areas to consider when you are ordering an environmental assessment. To learn more, contact a company that handles these assessments directly.
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