Green Story

So often we associate “going green” with making responsible decisions as individuals, such as buying more sustainable products, or using more fuel-efficient vehicles and appliances. But what about roads and bridges, buildings and other construction projects – what can we do to assure that our whole infrastructure can one day be built and maintained according to these same green principles? According to Jeff Clifford of Altus Engineering, most people are unaware of the depth of detail underlying responsible development. “People don’t think of how a structure or road affects the water table, for instance,” says Clifford. “For example roofs can heat up water and add pollutants to it but a rain garden can cool the water and filter out the pollutants before it goes back into the water table.”

A civil engineering firm based out of Portsmouth, Altus’ specialty is working on land development and storm water systems. Founded in 1996, the company has prided itself on being intimately involved in environmental protection, designing projects that have the least impact on the environment through proper storm water drainage and other considerations. “We haven’t changed what we’ve been doing” says Clifford, “we’ve been doing environmental permitting and regulation work all along.”