You’ve asked the internet what the best environmental engineering firms are in Chicagoland and the internet delivered you to the website of A3 Environmental Consultants. Full disclosure, we’re not environmental engineers, we’re environmental consultants. My first question for you, is do you know the difference? Are you sure you need an environmental engineer?
Unless you’re looking for a job, (in which case you’re in the wrong place) most people need an environmental consultants not an engineer. It’s kind of like asking who’s the best surgeon in Chicago when all you really need is a general practitioner, we can get you an answer but it won’t help you very much and if you do hire a surgeon to do what any regular doctor can do, it’s going to cost you a fortune.
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Commercial or Residential Environmental Engineering Firm?
If you’re underlying reason for looking for an environmental engineer has to do with your house, you really don’t need an environmental engineer. You could possibly need an environmental consultant but it’s rare. What you are probably looking for is mold, asbestos, air quality, noise or lead consulting and possibly abatement. These services are provided by a ton of providers for households across the country. Your best bet is to look on Angie’s List. If your needs are commercial, then by all means, please read on.
Do You Really Need an Environmental Engineering Firm?
Engineers plan, design and build structures and systems. So logically, environmental engineers would plan, design and build environmental solutions to environmental problems. There’s a high probability that you don’t know for sure you have an environmental problem. Even if you are sure you do, there’s no guarantee you’ll need an engineer to solve it. Environmental consultants are to general practice medicine what surgeons are to medicine. We need surgeons, but only when there’s a darn good need to go digging around inside somebody.
If your need is about discovering IF you have a problem, you need an environmental consultant. Even if you have a problem, the much less expensive environmental consultant can most likely solve it. If you have a really really big problem, we’ll call one of our many environmental engineering firms we work with and find you the best person and firm to work with. It works exactly like it does in medicine when your regular doctor makes a referral to a good surgeon when you have a big problem.
What KINDs of Environmental Engineering Firms Do You Need?
Before you can start making phone calls and talking with people who can solve your problem, we need to have a few ideas of what kind of problems you have. Each sub-category of environmental engineering has very good companies servicing the niche. So let’s discuss the niches so we send you in the right direction.
- Due Diligence – Environmental due diligence companies help clients to be certain they are not purchasing a contaminated property. We typically work with financial institutions, buyers and sellers to evaluate that a property is clean.
- Industrial Health & Hygiene – These engineers inspect mold, asbestos, lead, dust and air quality for commercial properties.
- Soil & Groundwater – This typically goes hand in hand with due diligence. Once a concern is identified, testing typically happens. In this testing an environmental consulting firm will sample the soil and groundwater.
- Tank Removal & Closure – Tank removal can be a subset of the construction industry but is often managed by an environmental engineering firm.
- Ecology – Fish studies, tree studies, salamander studies, wetland studies and a whole universe of what we call “bugs and bunnies” work is under the natural resources umbrella of environmental consulting.
- Energy Audits – Solar, wind, and hydrothermal. Insulation, green building, electric, gas and water optimization to achieve goals of lower impact on the environment.
- Geotechnical – This is a form of engineering that tests soils to see if they will hold the weight of whatever you would put on top of it. Often this is some kind of structure like a building or traffic on a road.
- Regulatory Compliance – These consultants know the municipal, county, state and federal laws and keep businesses within compliance of the laws.
- Environmental Impact Reporting & Assessment – As new things are built, like highways and large industrial facilities, environmental impact assessments are created. They are reports about what is being done to the environment and how any adverse impacts can be mitigated.
How Big do Environmental Engineering Firms Need to Be?
If you work for a huge company you need a huge environmental engineering firm to help you with your problem. If you work for a small or medium sized company, a huge environmental engineering firm will crush you in costs. Right-sizing the problem to the company handling it can go a long way in protecting budgets.
Is Your Environmental Engineering Need Chronic or Acute?
Some environmental engineering needs are a routine chore like taking the trash out, others are emergencies and if they aren’t emergencies, they are definitely under some kind of time crunch. Certain engineers excel at meeting routine (chronic) needs of clients because they can plan and schedule. Other engineers are rapid response and are geared to spring into action within 24 hours of being engaged.
So Who are The Best Environmental Engineering Firms in Chicago Illinois?
Big Companies Solving Big Problems for Big Business & Government:
Fast Companies Solving Acute Problems:
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- SET Environmental – (For big businesses)
- A3 Environmental Consultants – (For small to mid sized businesses)
Industrial Health & Hygiene Companies
Geotechnical
Ecology
What about an Environmental Consulting Firm for Residential Homes?
Sorry, I can’t help you. That’s almost a different universe from what we do. Check Angie’s List.
Who is A3 Environmental Consultants perfect client?
Our perfect client is a business with under 200 employees or any sized financial institution who needs environmental due diligence, soil or groundwater testing to make sure the asset they are buying or lending on is not contaminated. If it IS contaminated, we can help too. Our clients value us because we can move fast and won’t break the budget like some of the gigantic environmental companies out there. When you call A3 Environmental Consultants you’ll get a person, typically me, and we’ll talk through your problem right away. If we can’t help you, we’ll try to point you in the right direction.
If you need a good environmental consulting firm, give A3 Environmental Consultants a call. We’ll get your project done with the utmost in confidentiality, we’ll meet or exceed ASTM Standards on any sort of commercial or industrial property. Our reports meet the requirements of all lenders and government agencies such as the Small Business Administration (SBA), Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). A3 Environmental Consultants can be reached at (888) 405-1742 or by email at Info@A3E.com.
