Malcolm Pirnie
Specialty: Water and wastewater engineering, solid and hazardous waste management, environmental sciences, natural resource management
Management: William P. Dee, president and CEO; David Hanson, Seattle operations manager
Founded: 1896
Headquarters: White Plains, N.Y.; 60 offices in the U.S. including Kirkland and Portland
2007 revenues: $364 million
Projected 2008 revenues: $380 million
Current projects: Sustainability assessment for San Diego International Airport; geospatial modeling of watershed management alternatives with DR Systems for Seattle Public Utilities; helping develop LEED version 3 with the U.S. Green Building Council; just completed a forest stewardship management plan for local area Boy Scout camps
Photo courtesy of Malcolm Pirnie
Malcolm Pirnie recently assisted San Diego International Airport in assessing the sustainability of an expansion.
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David Hanson, vice president and Seattle operations manager for Malcolm Pirnie, said the nature of environmental consulting work is changing.
Hanson said work is growing more interdisciplinary, with more focus on integrated solutions that consider the life-cycle of a project or investment. Malcolm Pirnie is being called in earlier to do assessments, a sign that clients realize they need to develop wisely in order to get sustained economic benefit, he said.
“I think that the market is driving cities and companies and governments at all levels to be more environmentally friendly in how they implement their work,” Hanson said. “It’s looking at the various values of resource goods as well as services and how to manage that in a sustainable manner.”
Finding balance
Hanson said clients no longer seek environmental assessments just to be in compliance or to meet regulatory standards, they want consulting to help them balance their environmental, cultural and economic values and objectives.
“If you focus on just one area you can have a negative impact or you can bypass opportunities,” Hanson said.
Hanson said the focus on earlier interdisciplinary assessments is driven in part by the increasing importance of corporate social responsibility for private-sector success. But he said both corporations and the public sector are also driven by increasing energy costs.
“The flip side to that is that the rising energy costs should spur innovation and hopefully benefits to people as well,” Hanson said.
Demand for water resources and renewable energy services will grow significantly, Hanson said.
Global alliance
Hanson said with more emphasis on life-cycle assessments, it makes sense to have a more global understanding of resource solutions.
Malcolm Pirnie recently formed a global alliance with Australian engineering firm Sinclair Knight Merz. The company has offices in Australia and New Zealand and all over Europe. Hanson said that global knowledge will be a big benefit to Malcolm Pirnie.
Malcolm Pirnie and Sinclair Knight Merz have aligned their business plans, with the Seattle office in charge of the natural resource management work the two companies will do together.
Water resource issues came to a head decades ago in Australia and New Zealand, Hanson said, and others can learn from the progressive water resource management undertaken in those countries.
“It allows us a global platform to bring the lessons learned from around the globe,” Hanson said. “When you stop and look around there is a lot to be learned from each other.”