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Leading Sustainable Change in AEC: Q&A with Sustainability Manager Maddie Woods

Posted on by Otak Staff

Sustainability isn’t a single checklist item, it’s a way of approaching the work with intention, from early planning through design and delivery.

In this conversation, Maddie Woods, Otak’s Sustainability Manager, reflects on her path into sustainability leadership, the role the built environment plays in shaping long-term outcomes, and what Otak is doing to make sustainability more actionable for project teams. Along the way, she shares practical, everyday ways we can all support progress without being overwhelmed by perfection.

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Maddie’s Career Journey

What originally sparked your interest in sustainability as a career path?

“I first became interested in environmentalism and sustainability in high school. My school offered an AP Environmental Science course where I learned about concepts like the greenhouse effect, biodiversity loss, and waste.

That inspired me to pursue Environmental Studies as my major for undergrad. I started out at St. Lawrence University and transferred to the University of Vermont, where there were more opportunities in this type of course work. Environmental studies is very broad, and I enjoyed classes that ranged from green building and policy to environmental economics, resource conservation, and community planning.

Growing up in Maine also inspired me. Our family valued time outside and being mindful of the impact we left. Upon graduation, I knew I wanted to work in a field that influenced the built environment and valued connection to nature and community.”

What path has your professional journey taken, and what led you to your role as Sustainability Manager at Otak?

“My career path has not been linear (unlike many of people in the AEC field with a more defined path). In college, I worked at a boutique recruiting firm in the agriculture industry where I was given the opportunity to build a book of business in renewable energy. I quickly learned that was not a long-term path for me and I am not cut out to be a recruiter (and built a deep appreciation for our amazing recruitment team).

Maddie Woods growing up in Maine.
Maddie growing up in Maine.

Prior to Otak, I worked as a project coordinator at a design-build company focused on residential construction. What drew me to Otak was the opportunity to work at a company that supported my passion for the built environment (seeing projects come to life) and sustainability. I joined the GO (Green Otak) Committee early on, and I was able to help create a role for the first Sustainability Coordinator which grew into my role now as Sustainability Manager. Corporate Sustainability has evolved over time, and I’m grateful to work alongside others on the GO Committee to adapt our initiatives to a changing market.”

What skills have been the most valuable in your journey to leadership in sustainability?

“One of the most valuable skills has been a willingness to jump into something unfamiliar, with support from leadership to learn as I go. My passion inspired me to say yes when these opportunities came up. I also want to recognize that there have been several mentors or “cheerleaders” who have supported me along the way. Having someone who believes in your potential can sometimes be that extra inspiration. I hope to be able to pay that forward by supporting others in their own career aspirations.” 

Maddie and team at Commuting Solutions’ Bike to Work Day event.

Sustainability at Otak

What does sustainability mean within the context of our company and industry?

“If you look at global emissions by sector, over 70% come from energy, with about 17% from buildings and 16% from transportation. On top of that, some estimates suggest that up to three-quarters of the infrastructure that will exist in 2050 has yet to be built. That fact has always stuck with me, and it represents a massive opportunity.

It means that now is our chance, as designers and engineers, to meaningfully influence the future rather than continue with business as usual. While the sustainability field has been calling for change for a long time, markets can be slow to adapt. What makes the AEC industry unique is that we sit at the beginning of the process where decisions about how infrastructure is designed and built are made (and our planners often have a hand in developing frameworks and policies to support this, too!).

If we approach our work with intention, we can use our skills to create lasting, positive impacts on our communities.”

What are some of the sustainability initiatives currently underway at Otak?

“The GO Committee has been working to launch a sustainability kickoff form for our design teams, and I’m excited about where we’ve landed. It’s taken a long time to get here, in part because sustainability, resilience, and especially performance tracking are complex challenges.

One of our key goals was to simplify. We wanted to create a tool that initiates conversations now, rather than waiting to launch something overly complex akin to a full third-party certification without the third-party review. While I want to dream big, I also believe we need to start with something approachable and build from there.

We’re initially rolling this out to our infrastructure teams (T&I, STR, WNR, etc.) in Q2, with plans to integrate architecture and planning in future iterations since those are distinct project types. I’m looking forward to how this evolves over time, both in how we refine the tool and in how we track, measure, and communicate project performance.”

How do you see sustainability shaping the future of our organization?

“To me, it’s a non-negotiable. Sustainability is becoming less of a buzzword and more of an expectation.

When I look at Otak’s portfolio of projects, much of the work we’re already doing reduces impact, improves community outcomes, and supports restoration. At the same time, the market continues to push the boundaries, but as a smaller organization it’s a challenge for us to be on the leading edge of these innovations. Being intentional now will help ensure that we don’t fall into the late adopter category down the road.”

What role do employees across the company play in advancing our sustainability goals?

“I believe everyone has a role in advancing our goals. That is one of the things I love about this field, it’s inherently inclusive. Everyone has an opportunity to make a difference both in their personal and professional lives.

It also isn’t limited to only top-down or bottom-up approaches. There is a need for both to make it successful, which underscores my feelings about the universal nature.”

What are some small actions individuals at work can take that make a big impact?

“I encourage everyone to keep thinking creatively and look out for opportunities to challenge the status quo. Not every project will be the best candidate, but that doesn’t mean we should stop asking the question. For our design teams, that means continuing to bring thoughtful, innovative solutions to the table to navigate each project or client’s unique challenges. For leaders and managers, it means creating a team environment where those ideas are encouraged, heard, and explored.

I recently attended a presentation where one speaker focused on change. Her point was this: on paper, we can build the best possible plan we want, but in reality, change is hard and it rarely unfolds exactly as expected. That doesn’t mean we should stop trying. If anything, it reinforces the importance of commitment and adaptability.”

Otak earth day volunteer event with community clean up.
Maddie taking part in Town of Superior Earth Day Clean Up.

Leadership and Being a Woman in Sustainability

As a woman in a leadership role in sustainability, what challenges or opportunities have you experienced?

“One challenge that I have worked to overcome is the belief that I needed to be an expert to be successful. As a self-proclaimed generalist working in a field of incredibly talented specialists, it can be easy to feel like specialized knowledge is key to credibility or success. What I’ve realized is that there is a place for both. Generalists bring big picture thinking and the ability to connect people across disciplines. That can be just as important as deep technical expertise.

Sustainability is a field that requires leadership from generalists and specialists alike. Seeing this has been a real opportunity to reframe what I can bring to the table, in sustainability and more broadly.

For anyone who can relate to the concept of being a fantastic generalist – I’d encourage you to read “Range” by David Epstein. He shares the idea that generalists often thrive in complex, evolving fields because they can draw connections across different spaces. Sustainability is a perfect example of this.”

How important is diverse thinking when solving environmental and sustainability challenges?

“Diverse thinking is essential to solving environmental challenges. Climate change impacts nearly every aspect of our lives, so understanding the connections between various disciplines is critical. These challenges are complex and solutions require diversity of thought and inclusive perspectives. Sustainability spans financial and natural resources, public health, political spheres and beyond.

This is why I believe it is important to be able to find a balance of specialization and rely on generalists to bring teams together. We need experts, like climate scientists, for research or technological advancement, but we also need leaders and advocates to connect the dots for a larger audience. Diverse thinking is often a driving force behind innovation. You’ll often find Chief Sustainability Officers working across departments within a company because this work cannot be siloed.”

Maddie Woods hiking in Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.
Maddie hiking in Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.

Personal Perspective

How has your personal life influenced your passion for sustainability?

“Sustainability looks different for everyone but I don’t just put on my “sustainability hat” at work. For me, it’s evolved over time depending on where I live and what’s available to me. Right now, it means connecting with nature and my community. When I lived in a more urban area, it meant ditching my car for my bike or walking, taking transit, and taking advantage of the access to local resources like farmer’s markets and public spaces.

Growing up in Maine laid the groundwork for my connection to the environment. I spent a lot of time  camping, hiking, biking and being on the water. I would spend a month most summers at a camp with limited electricity doing activities like horseback riding, hiking, archery, swimming, and sailing.

Those experiences have shaped how I think about the world around me. They’ve created an appreciation for the resources we depend on.”

Images of Maddie Woods volunteering and riding bike to work.
Maddie at an Earth Day cleanup event and biking to work.

What sustainable habits do you practice in your own daily life?

“I’ll be the first to admit that I am nowhere near perfect in my daily life. I also don’t think perfection is the goal here. I try to approach it with an awareness and intentionality. Progress over perfection.

I still drive a gas car that I hope will last another 100,000 miles, and I have a long-ish commute. I enjoy traveling, including trips that require air travel. I eat meat regularly, but balance with a vegetarian meal as well.

Where I’ve chosen to live connects me with these practices day to day. I am fortunate to live on forested land in the mountains, where we primarily heat our home with wood that we source from our property. The process of cutting, bucking, and splitting wood each year also doubles as fire mitigation, which is an example of how sustainability and stewardship complement each other.

I also try to be intentional with my consumption. I enjoy repairing old items, buying second-hand and am selective about what I choose to purchase. In a time when consumption is at an all-time high and quality is declining, I really believe in quality over quantity and avoid “stuff for the sake of stuff”.”

Some other small habits that I practice:

  • Composting at home and using the soil for our greenhouse
  • Cooking meals at home
  • Buying in bulk
  • Using my library or libby for books / audiobooks
  • Air drying clothing
  • Traveling to places that connect me with nature and local culture

What is one simple sustainability habit you wish everyone would adopt?

“The biggest thing for me right now is mindful consumption. I cringe when I think about the volume of things like Amazon returns that just end up in a landfill. By buying less and supporting companies that make products that are built to last, we can signal with our dollar what we value.

On top of that, a lot of products are hard to recycle. Because of that, I also try to choose (as much as possible) natural materials. I know this isn’t always accessible to everyone, but I’ve that investing in a few high-quality items can outlive what would otherwise lead to two to three more items in the same timeframe. They just don’t make things like they used to!”

Sustainability is a long game built one thoughtful decision at a time. Thanks to Maddie for sharing her perspective, and for helping turn big ideas into practical steps our teams can use on real projects.

A Guide to Green Stormwater Infrastructure and the Growing Benefits of Nature-Based Solutions

Posted on by Otak Staff

As urban environments and their infrastructure expand, so do the amount of impervious surface they create. Where rainwater would otherwise naturally find its way into the soil, those surfaces make it so that it is now prevented and diverted by hardened and water-resistant surfaces such as roadways, parking lots, and rooftops. Stormwater planning addresses this issue.

Infographic with features and benefits of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI).

Traditionally, “gray infrastructure” like sewer systems is designed with a single purpose: move water from one place to another as quickly as possible. Over time this approach has led to increasing issues with flooding, erosion, and pollution to local waterways. In response, green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) has risen in popularity to better manage stormwater by utilizing the natural functions of soil and plants.

In this blog we’ll discuss how, by blending nature-based solutions into infrastructure, communities find multiple benefits. Green stormwater infrastructure not only improves the immediate management of runoff but also the long-term resilience of their design.

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What is Green Stormwater Infrastructure?

Green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) refers to systems that utilize the inherent qualities of nature-based solutions to improve the management and treatment runoff. Unlike gray infrastructure that consists of only man-made materials such as concrete or steel and is engineered solely to move water, GSI incorporates features that better slow, retain, and filter stormwater through natural processes.

Often involving planting vegetation, reconnecting natural water systems, or using permeable materials, green stormwater infrastructure is designed to replicate the natural hydrological processes by enabling infiltration below ground and evapotranspiration above. This approach treats rainwater as the resource it is rather than as waste while improving flooding, water quality, and a variety of other community benefits that come with a greener environment.

Benefits of Green Infrastructure and Nature-Based Solutions

The advantages of green stormwater infrastructure extend across environmental, social, and economic factors. Aside from obvious benefits to community flooding and natural habitat, this approach is also often more cost effective.

Niver Creek Tributary M

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After development caused downstream degradation that posed a public safety risk, Niver Creek Tributary M was restored to stabilize the natural system and reconnect its floodplain to retain stormwater. Take a closer look at how flood mitigation was accomplished leveraging nature-based solutions while also creating a new public space for the community.

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Adding green features, sometimes through the comprehensive planning process, to urban environments also can have wide-ranging positive effects on both quality of life as well as property values for a community where present. In fact, research has shown that properties near green stormwater features can increase in value by around 11%, reflecting the demand for communities that integrate green spaces into daily life.

Below is a quick overview of some of the primary benefits of green stormwater infrastructure for a community.

Flood Control and Water Quality

One of the most pressing challenges in stormwater management is flooding. Gray infrastructure often only shifts the problem from one place to another, channeling water away until systems overflow. By contrast, green infrastructure captures rainfall close to where it falls or diverts it to an area designed to naturally hold and absorb. The natural process of infiltration helps remove pollutants while slowly releasing runoff into groundwater. This reduces the burden on sewers, minimizes the risk of downstream flooding, and prevents the high percentage of pollution caused by untreated runoff entering rivers and lakes.

Air Quality and Heat Mitigation

Urban areas with large amounts of pavement experience the “urban heat island effect,” where temperatures rise due to absorbed and reflected heat. Higher temperatures also worsen air quality by increasing smog levels, posing risks to human health. It’s no secret that vegetation naturally converts CO2 into oxygen, which has a direct impact on improving air quality and reducing greenhouse gases. Drawing on these inherent characteristics, green infrastructure features help counter the urban heat island effect by reducing the amount of reflected heat by shading surfaces, filtering pollutants, and cooling the air through evapotranspiration.

Improved Natural Habitat

Even small green features can have a large impact on natural habitat. Projects that restore streams, reconnect wetlands, or replace outdated culverts not only manage stormwater more effectively but also improve fish passage (along with that of other aquatic organisms) and natural habitat for a variety of species. At the same time small additions of vegetation and tree cover provide homes for birds, insects, and small mammals. Together, these systems contribute to biodiversity and improve the resilience of communities.

Resource and Energy Savings

Green infrastructure also saves resources and lowers energy costs. For instance, green roofs insulate buildings, reducing heating and cooling expenses by up to 12%, while also lasting twice as long (20 versus 40 years on average) as conventional roofs. Permeable pavements help water reach soil and infiltrate. Altogether, these systems reduce embodied carbon footprints, extend infrastructure lifespans, and minimize long-term maintenance burdens.

Green Infrastructure Examples

Green infrastructure takes many forms that are tailored to the site and community needs. Below are some common examples of nature-based solutions in action:

Rain Garden

Aerial view of the NE 40th Water Quality Facility, designed to capture polluted stormwater runoff from a highway.
NE 40th Water Quality Facility

Rain gardens are shallow depressions planted with vegetation designed to capture runoff from nearby impervious surfaces. They filter pollutants, recharge groundwater, and provide habitat for wildlife such as birds and pollinators.

Green Roof

Block 49/Gray’s Landing

In an urban environment, rooftops are one of the most prevalent impervious surfaces. A green roof transforms that surface of a building into a living landscape. By covering rooftops with soil and vegetation, green roofs capture rainfall, reduce heat, and extend roof lifespans. They also insulate buildings, lowering energy demands.

Porous Pavement

View of drainage along the North Creek Trail and adjacent wetlands.
North Creek Trail

Unlike traditional asphalt or concrete, porous pavement allows stormwater to seep through the surface into the soil below. This reduces runoff volumes, lessens strain on stormwater systems, and reduces quantities of pollutants that reach the stormwater system.

Reconnected Wetlands & Floodplains

Aerial view of the Foster Floodplain Natural Area.
Foster Floodplain Natural Area

Many historical wetlands and floodplains have been cut off by development over time. Restoring these natural features allows them to serve their natural purpose during heavy rains, pooling and filtering water while slowly releasing it back into the water table.

Bioswales & Biofiltration

Vegetation starting to grow in at the Sandalwood Swale.
Sandalwood Swale

Bioswales (or biofiltration swales) are shallow, vegetated channels that collect runoff along roadways or developments. When planted with native plants, swales not only filter stormwater but also enhance the character of streetscapes and support biodiversity.

A Complete Approach to Green Infrastructure

As communities continue to grow and climate conditions become more unpredictable, stormwater management is an increasingly critical challenge. Green stormwater infrastructure offers a proven, cost-effective way to address flooding, improve water quality, and create healthier, more resilient communities. Implementation of this approach is a multidisciplinary process that draws on the expertise of planning, landscape architecture, water resources engineering, and environmental sciences to maximize its value.

By harnessing natural processes, these systems move beyond the limitations of gray infrastructure, blending engineering with ecology to deliver wide-ranging benefits. From improved air quality and habitat creation to reduced energy costs and enhanced property values, GSI demonstrates how infrastructure can serve people, nature, and the economy at once.

See More Green Infrastructure Work

Waterway Restoration: A Holistic Approach to Habitat and Infrastructure

Posted on by Otak Staff

There are more than 250,000 rivers stretching over 3 million miles across the United States. These streams lead to countless more waterways that form an interconnected system of essential natural resources for communities, agriculture, and wildlife.

The decades of development that has allowed for the growth of towns and cities is now better understood for its unintended impacts on these natural systems, the people that rely on them, and the aquatic species that call them home.

Pringle Creek Stream Restoration

Every year, millions of fish—many threatened or endangered—migrate between the ocean and the waterways that make up their native habitat. For many other fish species in inland states, this remarkable journey takes place wholly within freshwater systems. Altogether, these migrations—often triggered by seasonal changes—occur as fish seek out optimal conditions for spawning, feeding, or overwintering. It is a vital process to maintain healthy aquatic ecosystems and it’s a process that’s often challenged by infrastructure and habitat fragmentation.

Structures such as dams, culverts, and levees have long been recognized as barriers to fish passage. And while good progress has been made in removing this infrastructure where possible, waterway restoration has continued to evolve over the past few decades. Encompassing a broader approach, today’s restoration tactics better account for the full complexities of watersheds as well as the resilience of important infrastructure they’re connected to.  

In this blog, we’ll discuss how a more holistic approach is being taken to restore waterways to their more natural state, protecting both habitat and human access to this vital resource.

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What is Waterway Restoration?

Waterway restoration is the practice of returning natural systems to a condition more in-line with their natural state, creating and improving access to healthy water resources for communities and aquatic species alike. While true restoration is sometimes not possible in an urban setting, there can still be enhancements that restore at least a portion of the lost function.

Restoration work typically involves evaluation of geomorphic, hydrologic, hydraulic, and ecologic function as projects are planned and designed. Hydraulic modeling and hydrologic analysis calculate correct depth and velocity conditions, which can be used to better design systems that, for instance, target specific fish species.

Taken a step further, restoration design seeks to replicate how a stream might have naturally evolved in the absence of development. Stream simulation supports this aim by assessing natural geomorphic processes while also considering what’s currently impacting channel evolution and how it might change in the future.

Common Waterway Restoration Features

In support of communities, aquatic species, and healthier floodplains as a whole, there are a number of common features in waterway restoration design aimed at different goals.

Floodplain Reconnection

Aerial view of the Dungeness River Bridge and floodplain
Dungeness River Bridge and Floodplain

Regrading to raise the streambed, to lower the floodplain, or remove of infrastructure such as a tide gate, culvert, or levee allows a river to access its natural floodplain. This improves habitat availability and complexity, and floodwater storage.

Riparian & Wetland Enhancement

Wade Creek Restoration & Community Building

Planting native vegetation along streambanks helps to stabilize soil, filters runoff, and provides shade and habitat for aquatic and terrestrial species, and wetlands absorb floodwaters, filter pollutants, and serve as critical breeding grounds for fish and amphibians.

Channel Reconfiguration

Aerial view of Cedar Crossing
Cedar Crossing Restoration

Restoring natural channel form and processes (e.g., meandering/multi-threaded channel and pool, riffle, boulder/log step features) to improve flow dynamics, sediment transport, and habitat diversity.

Large Woody Material

South Beaver Creek Natural Area Restoration

Using woody material in stream restoration projects provides habitat where various types of fish—as well as insects they feed on—can live and thrive. Logs (with and without rootwads attached) and tree limbs are anchored along the banks to reduce erosion, add aquatic organism habitat (cover, resting areas), and support floodplain function. As the wood decays it also adds important nutrients to the water.

Removing or Improving Diversion Structures

Reconfiguring the Godfrey diversion structure
Godfrey Ditch Diversion Structure Reconstruction

Removing obsolete dams or retrofitting them with more resilient, fish-friendly designs restores connectivity, improves ecosystem health, and supports our community that relies upon this infrastructure.

Bioengineering Techniques

Restored estuary function and wildlife habitat to the Buckmire Slough
Buckmire Slough Tidal Reconnection

Using living plant materials in combination with natural and synthetic support structures, mimicking natural processes where erosion is most severe and bank stabilization is needed. This can include the use of riprap slope protection that is modified to incorporate elements of the other restoration techniques such as, inclusion of large woody materials or soil to support plantings.

Fish Barriers, Encroachment, and Water Quality

Over time, as restoration work has become more prevalent, along with the data to study and even adaptively manage its impacts, the field has continued to evolve. Restoration efforts today look beyond the removal of barriers alone to consider all factors that contribute to healthy systems, often requiring a more holistic approach that evaluates the entire watershed.

Longmont Supply Passage & Stream Restoration

In addition to removing physical barriers, waterway restoration work now also accounts for encroachment on waterways from sedimentation and pollution as a part of overall water quality. This is an important step in understanding impacts to adjacent habitat and community infrastructure. Russ Gaston, Senior Vice President, Water & Natural Resources, has decades experience studying and improving fish passages, working in both the public and private sector. He explains, “for years, restoration projects focused mainly on removing physical barriers or helping fish pass through or around barriers. What we have seen though, is streams that had polluted water flowing into them did not achieve positive results after physical barriers were removed. Rather, they saw little to no improvement at all.”

For instance, even after over 20 years of work in the French Creek watershed of Snohomish County removing fish barriers, restoration of spawning salmon to the upper watershed remained impeded because the water-quality-barrier in the watershed had not been improved.

Since then, the team has worked with the county and farmers in the watershed to explore new options to both improve water quality and restore stream buffers in the agricultural lands. “We commonly focus on stormwater runoff and work to create a stable channel to keep bank erosion to natural rates, which are primary sources of pollutants in a stream. We also use the Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity (B-IBII) to project the health of the stream before and after the restoration is completed,” says Russ.

WSDOT Fish Passage Program

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Waterway restoration work can involve multi-species preservation efforts that often support those listed as endangered or threatened. In the Pacific Northwest, there is a particular sense of urgency as 27 West Coast Salmon runs are threatened, including Chinook Salmon. In response, local agencies and tribes in the region have launched comprehensive restoration programs.

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This more comprehensive approach to waterway restoration is a collaborative, multidisciplinary effort involving cities, counties, agencies, tribal consultation, and property owners to fully assess common goals. Consideration for regional stormwater management, water rights, connectivity of wetlands, and aquatic habitat are all incorporated into a design for lasting solutions.

A Multidisciplinary Approach to Resilience

To fully understand what is happening within a waterway and what barriers—physical or otherwise—are having the greatest impact, the entire watershed needs to be considered. This requires the expertise and perspective of a multi-disciplinary approach that ideally includes structural and civil engineers, geomorphologists, biologists, wetland ecologists, and landscape architects. Russ, who has witnessed changes in the industry firsthand, points out that it’s not just multiple disciplines weighing in on a project, it’s diverse perspectives working together. “What I thought was an integrated team years ago, is nothing compared to what we do today.”

Working closely together, integrated teams have a greater understanding of all aspects of a restoration project and how it will deliver greater resilience in current and future conditions. From leading the next generation of work in the Pacific Northwest to preparing watersheds for wildfire in the Mountain West, Otak has been at the forefront of this shift to a more holistic approach to improving fish passages. These multidisciplinary efforts not only aim for multi-species preservation but also work closely with various jurisdictions—cities, counties, the state— to maximize cost benefit for whole communities.

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How Comprehensive Planning and Climate Co-Benefits are Creating Community Resilience

Posted on by Otak Staff

Positioning a community for long-term success is a planning effort that requires vision into the past, present, and future. Development around community goals often takes shape in the comprehensive planning process, but today this ever-evolving discipline faces increasingly complex challenges.

From the air to water and soil, the impacts of climate change are putting environmental factors at the forefront of long-range planning with the overarching need to create community resilience. As science and extreme weather events continue to paint a clearer picture of the specific hazards facing communities across different geographies, accounting for these variables becomes an increasingly essential element of the comprehensive planning process. In fact, for many planners today it’s not only essential, but mandatory. A growing number of states now have legislation in place – as well as significant sources of funding – that requires the inclusion of measures to address climate change in long-range plans.

In this piece, we’ll discuss how the comprehensive planning process is evolving to emphasize interconnected systems of resilience. From climate co-benefits centered on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, to improving socio-economic standing of residents, these emerging efforts are becoming a vital component to the future well-being of our communities.

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What is Comprehensive Planning?

Comprehensive planning is the process of creating documentation that guides decision-making around a variety of topics (i.e. land use, transportation, parks, housing, environment, employment etc.) for the direction of communities years into the future.

Communities often sharpen the focus of their overall vision through subarea plans aimed at covering specific parts of a city. These mini-comprehensive plans focus on the unique goals of a particular district, neighborhood, corridor, or other more targeted area of the broader community.

The Comprehensive Planning Co-Benefits Landscape

While impacts vary from one region to another, the fact of the matter is, no community is unaffected by climate. From flooding in coastal areas to extreme weather events on the mainland, growing trends with the environment have confirmed the importance of limiting human contribution to those changes while also making communities more resilient against their effects. It’s through this lens of resilience planning that co-benefits between different interconnected systems are found to maximize social, economic, and environmental factors collectively.

An infographic showing different common elements of comprehensive planning within a cityscape.

Resilience Planning Terminology

Types of Community Assets

Tables showing resilience planning terminology as well as community asset types that are considered in the comprehensive planning process.
Reference: Washington Department of Commerce

At the heart of resilience planning is the recognition of community assets – both tangible and intangible – and how they relate to potential hazards. The co-benefits of this process often are found in goals such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions or restoring watersheds, all to benefit the common needs of humans and habitats alike.

Environmental Systems of Resilience

At this point, any approach toward sustainability and resilience in development relies on an understanding of the connection between systems in the built environment and natural environment. Efforts to mitigate impact or restore natural systems are planned to include co-benefits to communities, including through green stormwater infrastructure.

Implementation projects that result from the comprehensive planning process can go a long way toward ensuring better preserved natural systems lead to more resilient communities.

Mitigating Impacts to Water, Air, and Soil

Many of the most vital elements found in nature are equally vital to our communities. From direct impacts like mitigating floods and wildfires to passive ones such as water and air quality, the co-benefits of resilience connect our communities to their broader ecosystems to reduce risk and enhance public health.

A Unique Water Quality Facility that Utilizes Bioretention for Polluted Stormwater Runoff in Redmond, WA.
Designed and constructed improvements to Redmond's stormwater trunk
A Stormwater Trunk Extension Improves Water Quality and Erosion Control in Redmond, WA.

Wildfires

In many areas of the United States, one of the most pressing hazards is wildfire. Considering physical loss to impacts on insurability and other economic effects, their toll on a community can be swift, widespread, and long lasting. What’s more is these events can cause a domino effect of natural disasters.

The scorched land and destroyed vegetation left behind by a wildfire will often lead to erosion of soil and increased runoff from stormwater. Excess water and sediment can have extreme impacts on water quality, transportation infrastructure (culverts, bridges etc.), and other community assets for years after a fire has been put out.

While strides have been made in fighting wildfires, the best approach remains in resilience planning designed to limit their impact before they start in the first place. Methods like identifying watersheds that are at risk and encouraging their preservation and restoration puts communities in a better position to avoid the variety of ways wildfire leads to loss.

Flooding and Sedimentation

Similar to the relationship between wildfires and watersheds, the role of healthy vegetation can play a large role in a community’s water quality and flooding. As a stormwater measure, native planting can have the added utility of accounting for added impervious surfaces, providing natural bioretention.

By limiting erosion through healthy root systems, native plantings are an essential element of any shoreline. In other types of environments, preserving soil also reduces the potential for debris flow or rock/mud slides that can cause a high amount of damage to property and loss of life.

Healthy habitats that include native plantings are also commonly used in planning efforts for parks and community spaces. Native plants are healthy food sources for local wildlife and because they’re adapted to the surrounding climate, they often require less water and maintenance, conserving an area’s resources efficiently.  They also add to the culture, education, and development of public spaces by encouraging a community to learn about and embrace the natural heritage of their region

Housing, Transportation, and Energy Systems of Resilience

Just as environmental factors impact community infrastructure, the reverse is also true. It’s no secret that transportation contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and that development can negatively impact ecosystems. It’s also important to recognize that disparities in impacted communities exist and planning around environmental justice is an opportunity to increase social justice.

Seatac Comprehensive Planning

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Take a closer look at how an updated comprehensive plan for the City of SeaTac sets the stage for decades of key growth strategies while utilizing GIS data to account for social, economic, and environmental factors in the community.

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When looking at issues individually, it can be difficult to find satisfying solutions, but when problems are viewed wholistically through the lens of resilience, the ability to influence positive outcomes becomes clearer.

Green House Gas (GHG) Emissions Reduction

A primary factor in resilience planning is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The focus on reducing vehicle miles driven and setting reduction targets is central to much of the regulation in Oregon and Washington state.

Planning that emphasizes transit-oriented development and active transportation not only works to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also can lead to more vibrant, healthier communities. A comprehensive plan can also include a look at industrial processes or emissions that come from city operations in order to lower an area’s carbon footprint.

Housing Density and Affordability

Across the country, many urban areas face challenges associated with affordable housing. With obvious economic implications, the ability to increase not only the supply but the density of housing is an effort to improve community resilience as well as upward mobility.

Within the comprehensive planning process, updates that allow for higher density housing or more flexible housing types can be made to the city code. Middle housing, or the in-between housing of detached single family and large multifamily complexes, is one avenue for flexible housing that maintains the character of a neighborhood. Ultimately, the goal for planners is to give people affordable housing options for the different stages of life that exist in any given community for the benefit of all.

Continuity in Operations and Utilities

In many areas of the country, communities are now familiar with “flex events” or “rolling blackouts” aimed at reducing energy consumption when there is high demand being met by strained energy infrastructure. As shifts in climate produce more frequent extreme temperatures–both hot and cold–planning efforts should consider how to make this process more efficient for communities while also considering improvements to energy grids that are more adaptable to these changing conditions.

Creating Stronger Communities through the Comprehensive Planning Process

In the context of comprehensive planning, resilience planning adds an additional layer of foresight focused on the interconnected systems of community, climate, and the natural environment. To truly prepare communities for a wide range of possible outcomes, resilience planning requires planners and stakeholders to not only consider current conditions and future growth, but also to anticipate and plan for a range of possible scenarios exacerbated by climate change and environmental degradation.

To encourage – and in some cases, mandate – this proactive approach, states such as Washington, Colorado, and Oregon have incorporated new planning requirements for local governments to address climate through comprehensive plans. At the same time, it has also opened the door to related grant funding and technical assistance for community leaders to implement impactful initiatives by injecting resilience into each step of the comprehensive planning process.

South Town Center Subarea Plan

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Take a closer look at how the unique goals of this vital corridor are outlined in it’s future development as part of the comprehensive planning process and in alignment with Washington’s Growth Management Act.

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Understanding Risks and Opportunities Through Meaningful Community Engagement

Community engagement and collaboration is an essential component of any planning process and takes on added importance when preparing for climate change and impacts to vulnerable communities. The process should bring in all voices of a community, particularly underserved ones and those that are most vulnerable to shocks and stressors. By involving a variety of groups, including tribal consultation, a more complete view of relevant factors is brought to the table while building consensus around goals.

An existing conditions analysis, including collecting data, understanding a wide range of community experiences, and identifying resources and assets available to mitigate impacts is a vital part of engaging the community toward a meaningful direction. A variety of engagement opportunities, from a booth at a popular event to interactive virtual open houses can provide a forum for gathering this information and beginning the public engagement process.

As planners work with elected officials and planning commissions to begin applying direction to specific projects and policy, findings from community engagement continue to help confirm and refine goals. Communication of community priorities gathered through public engagement is vital to creating this roadmap for future success.

An outdoor community engagement event in Vancouver, WA.
Plans for Austin Park Playground displayed for the community.
A planning session with community stakeholders in Vancouver, WA.
Meeting with community leadership in developing plans in Vancouver, WA.

Assessing Current Conditions, Hazards, and Community Assets

Mapping existing conditions (zoning, environmental conditions, population, traffic, property market, job market etc.) and community assets can reveal connections between individual factors, as well as larger systems in the area.

Examining these assets includes not only physical infrastructure but also social capital, cultural resources, and natural ecosystems. This includes identifying hazards (also known as shocks and stressors), such as hurricanes or wildfires, as well as chronic stressors like sea-level rise or economic inequality.

  • Shocks: Generally short-duration, rapid-onset or acute events that cause a disruption to normal life. (i.e. hurricane, wildfire, earthquake, flood etc.)
  • Stressors: Chronic, slow-onset or longer-term conditions that weaken a community over time and can impact community functions and well-being. (i.e. affordable housing, loss of habitat, air quality etc.)

“Futures” as a Plural in Outlining Desired Conditions

The comprehensive planning process often answers, “where do you want to be in 20 years, and how do you get there?” To develop strategies to adapt and thrive in the face of uncertainty involves envisioning future scenarios and understanding potential outcomes in more vivid detail than might be illustrated by a simple trendline or series of “high, medium, and low” projections.

Because future conditions are largely based on assumptions with certain metrics, there are a couple different ways to approach scenario development. Often, planning process participants are asked to choose between a variety of predetermined options for projects. An alternative to this approach involves preparing for several different pathways for development in order to respond to how future conditions evolve in reality, rather than a single expected outcome. This adaptable approach is especially important for resilience planning when considering factors such as how water levels might rise or where certain economic indicators will trend.

Bear Creek Greenway Corridor Revisioning

See the Project

Take a closer look at how extensive community engagement for multiple jurisdictions throughout a corridor formed a unified area action plan following widespread damage from the largest wildfire in Oregon state history.

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Whether it’s through innovative land use planning, investment in green infrastructure, or promoting sustainable transportation options, creating a roadmap for a more resilient future requires consideration of a range of interconnected community systems. Through the planning process, these systems and are aligned with a breadth of possible outcomes to design flexible, adaptive policies that are resilient to changing conditions.

  • Environmental Systems: Preserving ecosystems and natural resources to benefit community health.
  • Community and Social Systems: Supporting strong group structures and equitable government and social services.
  • Infrastructure Systems: Planning the built environment alongside natural systems to improve community functions.
  • Economic Systems: Improving access to opportunity and financial security.
  • Housing Systems: Developing access to shelter and strong surrounding community.

Developing Policy and Mapping Outcomes

Eventually, turning a planning vision into reality requires action. Implementing a comprehensive plan and co-benefits involves a mix of policy changes, infrastructure investments, and continued community engagement efforts.

At this stage, plans need to be double checked against state mandates, such as Washington’s Growth Management Act, while also translating overarching regulation to local jurisdictions. Those outcomes can then be adopted in the form of law by city councils or county commissions and funding options that will turn those plans into a reality can be explored.

Example State Legislation

Growth Management Act (Washington)

The resilience sub-element must include goals and polices to improve climate preparedness, response, and recovery efforts. This is mandatory for all counties and cities fully planning under the GMA and encouraged for others. As part of this, the greenhouse gas emissions sub-element requires goals and policies to reduce emissions and vehicle miles traveled.

Climate-Friendly and Equitable Communities (Oregon)

The Climate-Friendly and Equitable Communities Program aims to reduce climate pollution, provide more transportation and housing choices, and promote more equitable land use planning outcomes.

Strong Communities Grant Program (Colorado)

Intended to incentivize the adoption of transformational practices, programs, and policies that support sustainable development patterns and affordable housing into the future. This program will help communities align policies and regulations to focus on resilience around primarily housing and transportation.

Fortunately, there is growing support and funding available for resilience projects, with grants and other resources becoming increasingly accessible to communities committed to building a more resilient future. By aligning with state mandates and leveraging available resources, communities can turn their resilience plans into actionable projects that make a tangible difference in people’s lives.

Putting it All Together: A Multidisciplinary Planning Approach

In an era of unprecedented challenges, resilience planning offers a path forward for communities seeking to build a more sustainable, equitable, and adaptive future. Collaborative by nature, this effort benefits from the expertise of a number of practices focused on building improved communities.

By integrating resilience principles into the comprehensive planning process, communities can better prepare for and respond to the complex threats of the 21st century, ensuring a safer, more prosperous future for generations to come.

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A Coffee with… Otak’s School Bond Management Team

Posted on by Otak Staff

With many disciplines working together on a variety of projects, perhaps the best way to get a feel for a firm’s impact is simply, a coffee with… the people doing the work.

This video series features experts sharing insights gained during their time in the AEC industry, with an emphasis on the importance of collaboration to meet a common goal of creating improved communities.

In this edition, we sit down with leaders of our owner’s representative group that specialize in school bond management to hear how their work maximizes taxpayer dollars to benefit students, educators, and the surrounding community alike.

Discover more in the video and check out the transcript below:

Shaun: You know, each, each project I’ve been on… it takes a team. It definitely takes a village to do a school project of any size… that’s what we’re here for.

Bob: I am Bob Collins. I’ve work with, I’m a client services manager and I manage K-12 Bond project.

Sarah: I’m Sarah Oaks. I’m the director of project and construction Management here at Otak.

Shaun: I’m Sean Stuhldryer. I’m a program manager at Otak and I manage K-12 bond programs.

Brian: I’m Brian Hardebeck. I’m a client services manager here at Otak, and primarily in the K-12 and higher education market sector.

What is a school bond and how do they work?

0:48 [Skip to this chapter]

Bob: Many people don’t realize that, particularly in Oregon, school districts to do any kind of major capital construction need to raise money through a bond.

It doesn’t come from the state funding that they normally get for day to day expenses. And so a bond program captures major capital improvements, investments, and renovations.

Shaun: Every bond is different. Some bonds are one school and some bonds are 30 schools. In general, the more projects you would have then I would say the more phases or waves you need to have, because it’s really not practical to be working on every school at the exact same time.

Brian: What we do is it’s all for the kids. That’s what we’re here for, to improve their environment and allow the educators and the district leadership to concentrate on what they do best, educate and let us set that heavy lift for them.

Sarah: A lot of schools have facility staff and oftentimes they can do project management, but as you said, they have, you know, day jobs that they’ve gotta keep up with kind of a heavy workload.

And so whether it’s for just that period of time where the bond is in passage, or if there’s a particular complexity that maybe those facility folks don’t have experience with, I think that’s where we have a real value add, to kind of come alongside whatever resources the district has.

How do you responsibly manage public funds?

2:13 [Skip to this chapter]

Bob: A lot of our service can start in pre-bond management, assisting the client and really understanding what their needs are.

Working alongside with an architecture or design team to do some pre-bond and public engagement with the voters to help the district assure they’ll have a good, strong message out there, and that the voters have the public engagement that they need to understand what they’re gonna pay for.

Shaun: Oftentimes I’ll work with school districts to develop their district standards, and district standards, help design teams meet the needs and the priorities of the district.

You know, so you don’t overshoot in what you build frequently. We’ll identify tiers of priorities. Those are a few ways that we just return the best investment back on the taxpayer money.

Brian: One Of our major roles is the, uh, master communicator and facilitators to the district and to the voters.

We take on a sometimes very public, outward facing view for the client to really actively listen to them, take their feedback, and communicate that to the district. Help them facilitate the decision making process that includes voter input into the prioritization of projects, but also encompass the, “what’s in it for me,” question from the voter.

Bob: I think that one of our biggest roles is we are identifying risk to the project and then communicating to them. And in doing so, that I think develops trust with all those folks.

Sarah: You know, other things we do, I think particularly with engagement is making sure that districts have a citizens oversight committee set up too, to kind of put eyes and ears on the process.

How do you cater to specific school district needs?

4:08 [Skip to this chapter]

Shaun: I’ve worked with clients with, you know, acquiring properties, dealing with entitlements, dealing with development codes.

One interesting thing about, I think, in our business is every project is unique. It’s always a new team, new entities or people coming together for the first time.

Bob: One of the things we found very important to help develop a team from the beginning before there is really a team is chartering. Putting that out there so that there really is expectation setting from the get-go at the highest level.

So, there’s an opportunity to try to have members on your team that you feel have the same vision and passion about doing the work. And then again, being transparent, always in communication, you can’t communicate enough.

Sarah: You cannot overstate the importance of communication. I think a fundamental agreement for that is, is trust.

And I’m glad you mentioned chartering. I mean, that’s such an important thing to kind of get up everyone’s different goals on the table and figure out how those are gonna get woven together.

Brian: I think for me, uh, being a coastal region client service manager, I think one thing that I’m involved with more than probably inland groups is coastal resiliency and how to deal with rising, rising water levels.

Earthquake preparedness and resiliency for post-incident occupation of the new school or a school building or a public facility in this case. Where is it located? That all plays into the planning involved in a bond program for coastal districts, coastal clients.

Shaun: You know, a lot of school districts maybe they pass a bond every 10 years or, you know, every 20 years. Maybe it’s more often every five years. But, you know, the bond runs its course and then the school district’s not in the business of building things, they’re in the business of education. But we’re out serving other school districts and staying sharp, keeping up with technology and changes.

Sarah: I would like to say that we’re experts in uncertainty, right? Of figuring out how we’re gonna face it, how we’re gonna bring a team through it, how we’re gonna make decisions to come out on the other side of it.

So oftentimes we’re building spaces where, you know, they aren’t able to teach that because they don’t have space for it yet. And so sometimes it’s coming alongside educators as they’re putting together curriculum and we’re designing the space at the same time.

And so, I think it’s really figuring out not just how to build a building, but how to build a building to be used immediately and then for generations. You know, that I think is something you have to, you have to really have a good crystal ball, or yeah, a good sense of it.

What do you find rewarding about school bond work?

6:54 [Skip to this chapter]

Brian: This industry’s very personal to me. I’m a product of a career and technical education class (CTE) in high school.

I just recently worked for a bond client, rural client on the Oregon coast. We saw the need to expand their career and technical education offerings, built a new CTE laboratory building for them. And I think at the end of that, we used the building as an educational process.

The kids that were already in their CTE programs had an exploratory program to bring in kids that really hadn’t thought of what their careers are going to be. They hadn’t figured out their “why” yet. But something caught ’em. And to see that engagement from the students and something that lit up their “why” was fascinating to me. And it was, it was great to see.

Sarah: I think one of the most gratifying moments that I’ve had just in this particular line of work is… so I’ve had an opportunity to work and participate in ACE Mentors, which is an after school program for high school students that are looking to explore careers in architecture, engineering, and construction.

I’ve now been in this field long enough that some of these students actually had gone through programs at a school that I worked on and had caught the bug, got interested in this line of work because they were able to work in one of the construction labs or in the STEM space of this school that hadn’t existed before we worked on this project.

And so it was very cool just that they are now getting exposed to different hands-on, project-based learning opportunities, career paths that are now kind of bringing them into this, in this industry.

So that felt very full circle for me and just very, very exciting just to hear how much they were enjoying those spaces. I really appreciated that.

Bob: Along the lines of what Sarah mentioned, managing teams of other Otak project managers and seeing their growth, that’s been a lot of fun.

We were asked to build essentially four schools and get ’em all done at the same substantial completion time, and everybody in the industry said, that’s ridiculous. No way that could really be done.

We did get it done on time and under budget, we had money left. So that was a really big, feather in my cap.

Shaun: Something really rewarding for me is opening up an elementary school. And it’s almost because you’ve got this community ready to go to come together, and that’s always just really rewarding to watch that happen.
 

We opened a school, RA Morrow Kennedy Elementary School in Clackamas County, a while back and I just was really fortunate with a fantastic team.

I mean, well under budget, ahead of schedule. Everything was ready when they wanted to move in in the summer and people were exuberant. It just felt like there was a, there was something in the air where everything came together. You could just see this community developing. That was just a really cool moment for me.

Brian: The school building needs to be more than just a school building. It needs to be a community asset. It’s a community center. It is all for the kids, but it’s also for the community.

See Our Owner’s Rep Work

Accelerating Data Center Deployment: How Time to Market is Being Redefined in a Remote World

Posted on by Otak Staff

It’s no secret that artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and data-driven technologies are increasingly prevalent across many aspects of daily life. But what’s going on behind the scenes to make it happen? Along with the rapid rise of the AI industry has come demand for data centers and mission critical facilities. In fact, the need for infrastructure to support this exponential growth is so great that any reduction in the planning, design, and construction timelines for these facilities presents massive value.

Infographic showing efficiencies in data center deployment from a remote management team.

As data center demand grows, it coincides with another rising area in remote work. Remote work, in some form or another, has become commonplace in today’s workplace. This dynamic has found a greater foothold in some industries more than others, and in many cases the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) field has been slower to adapt. While some project tasks naturally require ‘boots on the ground’, one group within our owner’s representative team has strategically designed itself with a remote model to find efficiencies in project management processes.

In this blog, we’ll discuss how today’s tools of remote work are being utilized to accelerate data center deployment and meet their growing demand.

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Quote from Mike Scott on the efficiencies of a remote project management team on data center projects.

Consolidating Teams with Client Continuity

Launching a new data center involves many logistical and administrative steps across each phase of development. Even before work begins, this process typically involves identifying a site and building a project team which then travels to the site to complete onboarding and safety training. This project activation phase alone can last anywhere from two to six weeks, taking time from the start of design and construction.

A lengthy onboarding period is compounded when managing across multiple sites—as data centers often are—with the cycle needing to be repeated for each location. As locations and stakeholders spread, it also increases the potential for misalignment in a client’s processes and procedures.

Quote from Jennifer Bouda on the efficiencies of a remote project management team on data center projects.

A remote team structure bypasses these bottlenecks. Because project managers are operating remotely, they can administer 7 to 9 projects at once without the need for repeated steps. This means projects can be activated across sites almost immediately and in tandem. And because this approach consolidates the project team, there is greater continuity across project phases and sites, reducing risk and costs for clients.

Maximizing Schedules and Timelines Across Geographies

One of the challenges to faster data center deployment exists in the inherent inefficiencies that can come with operating across multiple time zones. By strategically distributing project stakeholders across geographies, a remote team helps reduce delays that come with waiting for centralized teams to mobilize or coordinate across time zones. This deliberate approach enables the team to support clients from coast to coast with flexible schedules that cater to where work is being done.

As East Coast projects get underway, a remote project manager can stagger their schedule—joining key meetings in the morning and shifting to administrative tasks once activity winds down in that time zone. Smart scheduling tools, centralized collaboration platforms, and real-time communication systems further support this model, allowing multiple stakeholders to work in sync across locations.

Quote from Renee Rhiner on the efficiencies of a remote project management team on data center projects.
Reach Out to Team Lead Renee to Learn More

The result is a remote, regionally integrated approach that ensures core team members remain engaged across phases and locations, accelerating schedules and compressing timelines across the complete data center project lifecycle.

Building a High-Performance Remote Environment

With work spanning more than three countries and twenty metros, the Otak mission critical team is harnessing the power of a remote-first model. Their success has come not only from the digital tools they utilize, but also the partnerships and team-building strategies they’ve implemented. By intentionally cultivating a strong team culture, the group is able to operate as a cohesive unit while maintaining the flexibility to support projects coast to coast.

In parallel to their own approach, the team has cultivated strong partnerships with architecture and engineering firms that also operate with a remote-first mindset. These collaborators share our emphasis on streamlined delivery and flexible engagement. Rather than embedding full teams onsite for extended durations, they use focused field walks at key milestones to ensure critical design and construction checkpoints are met.

Quote from Tracy Goodman on the efficiencies of a remote project management team on data center projects.

To keep the remote team feeling connected, our mission critical group has also taken numerous steps to stay close-knit and collaborative. Regular team building exercises—both digitally and in person—are built into their schedules. The CliftonStrengths Assessment is another important tool the team utilizes for deeper communication and understanding, as it provides specific insights into individual and group strengths and communication styles.

By eliminating traditional roadblocks, consolidating project oversight, and building a distributed culture rooted in technology and individual strengths, Otak’s mission critical team is demonstrating a blueprint for how remote teams can not only match but elevate data center deployment.

Learn More About Our Mission Critical Work

A Different Kind of Project: Building Future AEC Professionals with CU Boulder

Posted on by Otak Staff

A common thread within the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry exists in creating lasting impact. While this theme naturally applies to work that aims to improve lives in communities from one generation to the next, it’s also about preparing the next generation of professionals to continue that work.

At the University of Colorado, Boulder, the CVEN 4899 Senior Design course takes a different approach to building future AEC professionals by giving students a real-world example project to put their knowledge into practice. The project is part of Otak’s work on South Boulder Creek and several leaders from the multidisciplinary expertise involved participated in the classroom and in the field. Their hope was to lend their perspective as mentors to advancing an educational system where a focus on technical knowledge often doesn’t include the value of practical experience.

Quote from Matt Morris about the CU Boulder Capstone project.

Understanding how complex projects go from concept to completion involves familiarity with nuanced aspects of decision making in each phase, including stakeholder engagement, technical design, constructability, budgeting, and interdisciplinary coordination. This course helps balance the gap between hard and soft skills in the complete design and construction process, equipping students with a well-rounded start toward successful careers in the industry.

In this blog, we’ll dive into the details of this unique capstone project and the information presented to guide it across four distinct elements.

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Students of the CU Boulder Capstone project gathered at the project site.
Image of Chris Romeyn presenting in the classroom for the CU Boulder Capstone project.
Students in the field as part of the CU Boulder Capstone project.

The Project – A Stream, Two Structures, and the Solutions of Multidisciplinary Work

In the backyard of CU Boulder’s campus is a nine-mile stretch of South Boulder Creek that extends from Eldorado Canyon to its confluence with Boulder Creek. It represents one of several stream sites identified for improvement by Boulder Flycasters (a local chapter of Trout Unlimited) after multiple studies in the area. The subsequent Stream Management Plan recommended the modification or replacement of multiple structures while the City of Boulder Open Space & Mountain Parks Department aimed to improve the functionality of all water crossings across their trail network in the area.

The collective goals of a hypothetical client, The South Boulder Creek Alliance, took shape in a request for proposal (RFP) that combines two projects near the South Mesa Trailhead. One focuses on modifying or replacing the Davidson Diversion structure, and the second on the pedestrian access bridge crossing South Boulder Creek as part of the Mesa Trail.

Aerial view of the project site for the CU Boulder Capstone Project, including the two structures.

Through this course, students were asked to develop hypothetical proposals for this real-world project. In developing their designs for each element, they were challenged to balance stakeholder needs, reduce costs through innovative materials and construction methods, and minimize impacts to the environment and public—both during construction and in the long term. Several presentations from industry professionals would guide them along the way, all with a focus on sustainability and resiliency considerations.

Assessing Water Resources and Environmental Conditions

Understanding water resources is an essential component to civil engineering, which of course is accentuated when a stream is involved. It’s a concept very familiar to Tracy Emmanuel, a geomorphologist and team lead for environmental as well as water and natural resources work at Otak, who—alongside colleagues Chris Romeyn and Maddie McNamee—brought expertise to this course in the classroom and the field. While Chris and Maddie led a tutorial on hydraulic modeling, Tracy guided students through her team’s approach to water-related aspects of projects with an emphasis on the types of questions they ask in the project process to uncover the right design solutions—rather than simply providing the answers.

Quote from Tracy Emmanuel about her involvement with the CU Boulder Capstone project.

Using this information, students examined the project area’s floodplain and how the flow of the stream impacts the design in a number of key ways:

  • Determining watershed hydrology and waterway flows as they relate to water rights, fish passage, and with consideration of an expansion project of the upstream Gross Reservoir Dam
  • Examining a floodplain assessment of impacts to 100-year and 500-year floodplain boundaries in relation to those published by FEMA and local agencies
  • Completing hydraulic analysis to determine placement and impact of both the diversion structure and potential bridge crossing. 
  • Determining scour from a 500-year storm event and channel erosion protection for the structures

These areas not only enhanced the students’ understanding of water resources engineering but also underlined the importance of designing for the long-term ecological health of the area and maximizing its value to the surrounding community.

Making Context-Sensitive Structural Design Decisions

Structural design is about more than just crunching numbers—it’s about understanding how context, constraints, and client priorities shape a project. David Graff, a structural engineer at Otak, provided students a window into better understanding the how that surrounding context impacts the structural design process, while remaining rooted in real-world conditions.

Quote from David Graff about his involvement with the CU Boulder Capstone project.

David emphasized that before even beginning detailed calculations, engineers must make critical decisions about structure type, channel impact, materials, constructability, and aesthetic expectations. He also highlighted the importance of asking the right questions—What problems is the client trying to solve? What’s the budget? Are there successful precedent projects to draw from?

To demonstrate this process, he shared the structure alignment selection process behind the 19th Street Pedestrian Bridge, which exists right on CU Boulder’s campus. He used the project as an example familiar to these students, illustrating how thoughtful engineering, paired with client engagement and project constraint understanding, leads to a successful and unique design solution.

These insights aimed to aid the students as they worked through the structural and geotechnical aspects of the project:

  • Describing existing site conditions, including subsurface conditions and soil profiles
  • Determining if any elements of existing structures can be reused in the final condition
  • Evaluating the pros and cons of different structural materials and systems for the pedestrian bridge design
  • Considering preventative maintenance for the structures and those associated future costs

The opportunity to navigate working with multiple disciplines and stakeholders gave students a fuller understanding of the structural design process and the high-level decisions that come with it.

University of Colorado Varsity Pond Bridge and Dam Improvements

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Take a closer look at how a historic landmark is rehabilitated to ensure its structural integrity and access to the campus community for generations to come.

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Building High-Performing Teams with Balanced Skills

Technical expertise is essential, but the ability to work well with others and communicate effectively is also critical to a project’s success. Henry Alaman, Otak’s Colorado Regional Director and a member of the owner’s representative team, shared with students the importance of balancing technical skills with the soft skills that aren’t always covered in traditional engineering coursework.

Quote from Henry Alaman about his involvement with the CU Boulder Capstone project.

Henry spoke about how interpersonal skills influence both the pursuit of projects and their ultimate success. From team collaboration to community engagement, the ability to build relationships and gain buy-in from stakeholders can be an essential piece of the project process.

To reinforce the importance of collaboration, and communication, Henry led an interactive team-building exercise that encouraged students to break down barriers and avoid the siloed thinking that can hinder progress in interdisciplinary teams.

Considering Constructability and Managing a Project to Completion

The best design in the world won’t matter if it can’t be built efficiently. That was central theme from Patrick Pease, a leader in Otak’s construction management group, who presented the practical realities of turning design concepts into built environments.

Patrick walked students through the various steps in the construction process—from initial planning to regular coordination with owners, municipalities, and contractors. He stressed the construction phase being where most major cost fluctuations occur, making coordination crucial to maximizing project value. Proactive communication is one key to avoiding these issues by resolving disputes quickly, maintaining schedules, and keeping projects on budget. To drive this point, Patrick shared two real-world examples that showed opposing results. One—CO7 and SH119—was executed efficiently due to strong stakeholder coordination and planning. The other experienced delays and cost overruns due to poor coordination and lack of clarity between parties.

Quote from Patrick Pease about his involvement with the CU Boulder Capstone project.

With the aim of ensuring their designs could be completed, the students’ proposals included various aspects of project constructability:

  • Creating a list of stakeholders, including their role and involvement, who need to be involved during active construction
  • Providing strategies for avoiding public interruptions as well as any needed closures or detours to the trail system
  • Mitigating risk and impact to the environment, including fish spawning in the area
  • Creating a detailed cost estimate along with a design and construction schedule with phasing plans

A close look at the construction phase helped students understand how critical it is to build strong working relationships early and sustain them throughout a project’s lifecycle.

Bridging the Gap Between Classroom and Career

By simulating a true design-build environment, the CVEN 4899 Senior Design course gives students invaluable experience beyond textbooks. Otak is honored to support these future AEC professionals with a first-hand look at the full project process from a multidisciplinary environment.

As a firm committed to the professional development of our people and the improvement of our communities, we see investing in the next generation not just as mentorship but central to our mission.

Learn What It’s Like to Work at Otak

Roadway Engineering: Creating Community Connections

Posted on by Otak Staff

A cornerstone of any growing community is its connectivity. Roadway engineering provides more than just conduits for cars; it forms the framework for mobility in a community that leverages a variety of modes of transportation.

Infographic showing three types of roadway and some benefits they provide to community connectivity.

A well-designed transportation network featuring different types of roadways can have widespread impact on economic development and individual wellness. This includes improvements that ensure all areas—especially underserved populations—have access to jobs, essential services, and amenities as well as healthier lifestyles through reductions in emissions and the promotion of active transportation. In this blog we discuss how roadway designs exist at the intersection of planning and transportation engineering to support the growth of healthier, more sustainable communities.

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What is Roadway Engineering and Its Importance?

Roadway engineering is the planning, design, and construction of transportation infrastructure that enhances existing roadways or establishes new connections within a community. The practice integrates technical expertise, urban planning, and environmental considerations to develop safe, efficient, and accessible transportation systems that serve both current and future needs.

The design process starts with an assessment of existing conditions, including topographic mapping, survey and GIS, to understand site constraints. From there, engineers develop roadway layouts that meet design and safety standards. The final design incorporates permitting requirements, cost considerations, and agency coordination to ensure a smooth transition from planning through construction. The end result is a completed roadway that enhances connection across a community.

Key Roadway Engineering Project Considerations

Aerial view of the NE 40th Water Quality Facility.
NE 40th Water Quality Facility

Stormwater Infrastructure and Low Impact Development

An extremely common aspect of roadway engineering involves the inclusion of stormwater infrastructure considerations. While accounting for increased impervious surfaces and polluted runoff, stormwater features reduce flooding and improve water quality for a community.

A replacement culvert and fish passage features as part of improvements to 171st Parkway.
171st Street Urban Parkway

Culvert Replacement and Environmental Mitigation

With new development comes the potential for negative environmental impact, but proper analysis of natural resources can mitigate adverse effects. Existing culverts are notoriously inefficient and are also among the most common barriers to fish passage. Today, culverts are being replaced to protect aquatic habitat, reduce flooding, and preserve water rights for property owners.

View down to 30th and Colorado protected bike underpass.
30th and Colorado Underpass

Pedestrian Features

An important piece of roadway engineering is consideration of how it facilitates more than just cars. Multimodal design gives communities options for how they get from point A to point B, all while reducing carbon emissions and promoting physical health through active transportation. Emphasizing pedestrian mobility features like pedestrian bridges, protected bike lanes, cross walks, and traffic stripping reduces traffic conflicts for all.

An intersection along the updated Tolt Avenue corridor.
Tolt Avenue Central Business District Improvements

Traffic Control Elements

Safety is the top priority of any roadway project. With updated traffic signals and signage, drivers are more aware, creating a safer environment for themselves and pedestrians. As the design of a roadway considers number of lanes and width, control of speed can also be effectively managed.

People at the Lynnwood Community Transit Bus Rapid Transit Orange Line station.
Swift Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)

Transit-Oriented-Development

A healthy transportation network is a diverse transportation network. As roadway projects increase in size, so do opportunities to incorporate multimodal features. This can include accommodating mass transit with new stations, specialized lanes, or connection to adjacent trail systems. All ultimately contribute to traffic calming, creating a more connected community.

From small neighborhood streets to large arterials, each roadway type must be designed with the specific needs of the community in mind. A critical aspect of any design is engaging with the public to ensure buy-in and minimize disruption. The larger the initiative, the more essential public outreach becomes, and each project presents its own unique impacts to the connectivity of the communities it serves.

Types of Roadways and Their Impact on Communities

Different types of roadways serve unique, though connected, purposes in a transportation network. Their design often begins with comprehensive planning efforts which help identify the transportation needs of a community. Potential projects can then be developed with the focus of serving both community and client goals.

Neighborhood Streets

Neighborhood streets are designed with a primary focus on safety and accessibility, often placing an emphasis on pedestrians, cyclists, and access to public transit. The more limited scope of neighborhood street projects makes cost-effective construction strategies vital to fit within local budgets.

With this localized focus on enhancing connectivity and accessibility, neighborhood streets also typically include ADA-compliant sidewalks and crosswalks while speed bumps or curb extensions are among traffic calming measures. This roadway type requires extra attention to minimizing impact on adjacent properties while maximizing the benefits to those who call the neighborhood home, including the public assets that often exist in the area.

Tualatin, OR Adds Safe Routes to School

View of a pedestrian crosswalk and landscape as part of pedestrian safety improvements around Tualatin Elementary.
View of widened sidewalk and signage as part of pedestrian safety improvements around Tualatin Elementary.

Among some of the most important improvements that can be made to neighborhood streets are those that create a safer environment for children that play and travel in the area. For many parents at Tualatin Elementary, it was clear that updates to the neighborhood streets could make a real difference for the kids walking and biking to and from school.

Graphic with a quote from a community member on the impact of roadway improvements and the safe routes to schools program.
Source: KOIN 6

As part of Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs, which provides grants for these types of improvements, work on 95th and Avery made a variety of upgrades to enhance pedestrian safety, particularly for the kids of Tualatin Elementary.

Multiple intersections were improved with high visibility striping in crosswalks, rectangular rapid-flashing beacons (RRFB), and other features to create safer pedestrian crossings and reduce conflicts with vehicles. Deficient sidewalks and gaps were replaced to further enhance the pedestrian experience.

Mid-Size Collectors and Corridors

Mid-size collectors and corridors serve as vital connections between neighborhoods and larger roadways. This roadway type supports moderate traffic volumes and often incorporates improvements that enhance transportation operations and facilitate flow between developing areas.

Corridors generally aim to improve access to commercial areas, parks, and transit hubs in response to increasing traffic demand. As part of planning efforts, these improvements are sometimes made in anticipation of future development. The larger scope often involves coordination with utility companies and various agencies, as they can have a substantial impact on not only the community but the surrounding environment.

Silverdale, WA Sees Reduced Congestion and an Enhanced Waterfront

Designed a 240-foot, four-lane bridge and widened road
Designed a 240-foot, four-lane bridge and widened road

The community of Silverdale had long looked to improve on poor waterfront access. Where the Clear Creek Estuary crosses under Bucklin Hill Road and meets Dyes Inlet, high traffic was common which was especially problematic considering its semi-rural setting. Altogether, the area represented a missed opportunity to create an appealing place for recreation, community connections, and growth for local businesses.

Graphic with a quote from a local business owner on the impact of the Bucklin Hill roadway project.

Improvements to Bucklin Hill Road and Bridge changed that. Two additional travel lanes eliminated congestion while new bike lanes and facilities were added where there had been none. Widened sidewalks and new trail connections added to new active transportation opportunities for the community. Extensive public outreach, including the “Scout Your Route” campaign to keep the public informed of closures, minimized disruption while reducing construction duration. These improvements had a direct, broad impact on all community members, including residents at senior living facilities in the area that now benefit from greater accessibility to their local businesses.

Large Arterials and Highways

Large arterials and highways are critical for regional mobility, commerce, and overarching economic development. Linking rural and urban areas, these roadways provide communities of all sizes access to important resources like employment and healthcare in metropolitan centers, while supporting the social and cultural networks between different areas. The scale of large highway upgrades can lead to wider improvements to transit-oriented development that diversify modes of transportation and maximize project value.

These roadways often present unique engineering challenges and draw from multiple funding sources, requiring close coordination with agencies to ensure regulatory compliance. As long-term, high-visibility projects, managing timelines and minimizing construction impacts is essential to minimizing disruptions that, at this scale, can be especially costly. This includes effectively communicating project updates with the surrounding community through informational websites, local representatives, and other channels to provide clarity and achieve buy-in.

Salem, OR Supports Rapid Growth and Underserved Areas

In a historically underserved area of Salem, Oregon, where 36% of parcels are underutilized, the McGilchrist Complete Street Project is designed to enhance business development, job creation, and multimodal transportation options for members of the community. It’s part of a 20-year vision for economic growth as well as transportation safety and environmental sustainability.

Graphic with a quote from Ron Wyden on the McGilchrist Arterial project.

Considering the large and lasting impact of this work on the community, it was imperative to include them. Extensive stakeholder engagement went above and beyond, working directly with property owners, businesses, and local agencies to ensure the project addressed real community needs. These efforts led to the incorporation of refinements such as the protected cycle track and intersection realignments.

Based on feedback from public outreach, 74% of the corridor features protected bike lanes and new sidewalks. The design aims to significantly improve pedestrian accessibility while minimizing pedestrian-vehicle conflicts, resulting in fewer severe crashes and lives lost. The inclusion of $15 million of stormwater infrastructure upgrades also means this work plays a critical role in not only reducing future flooding for the community but improving habitat for fish.

Making the Complete Connection

Roadways are essential to creating vibrant, connected, and equitable communities. Because of their widespread impact, roadway projects of any size involve a diverse set of considerations to ensure that impact is comprehensive and long lasting. Through thoughtful planning, collaboration, and public engagement, Otak’s multidisciplinary teams take a cohesive approach to designing more connected communities that address current and future needs.

See Our Transportation Work

A Coffee with… Amanda Owings (Transportation Engineer) and Greg Mines (Structures Engineer)

Posted on by Otak Staff

With many disciplines working together on a variety of projects, perhaps the best way to get a feel for a firm’s impact is simply, a coffee with… the people doing the work.

This video series features experts sharing insights gained during their time in the AEC industry, with an emphasis on the importance of collaboration to meet a common goal of creating improved communities.

In this edition, we sit down with a leader of our transportation engineering group and a member of our structural engineering group to hear how their work intersects to create infrastructure that gives people the independence to move.

Find out in the video and its transcript below:

Introduction

Greg: The interface between, you know, roadway and civil and bridges is really about that, that connection of community.

Amanda: Well, that urban built environment was really cool to me too. You know, being able to actually walk through your projects as an engineer drive by.

Greg: ‘I did that,’ right?

Amanda: Exactly.

My name is Amanda Owings. I am the transportation and infrastructure business unit lead for the Oregon and Southwest Washington offices.

Greg: My name is Greg Mines. I am a structures engineer in our bridge group out of Vancouver.

What excites you about the work you do?

0:42 [Skip to this chapter]

Greg: I mean, bridges are both, you know, literal and metaphorical. So you have, you know, like you’re connecting, you know, connecting communities. And then also, we’ve done a few projects replacing connections that were lost.

Or you’re either trying to help people move through an environment or you’re trying to connect different communities with each other in different areas of community.

Amanda: And adding on to that is giving people options when they don’t have any, right, If they have an alternate way to get somewhere or an independent way to move about their community.

That’s what I think is really heartwarming about the work that we do is that you are now eliminating barriers. You’re giving people independence to move. And that’s something that everybody wants to have. They want that freedom.

What has your path been like in the field?

1:30 [Skip to this chapter]

Greg: I’ve worn many hats at Otak. I started out doing bridges and then for a while actually went and did some buildings for the national parks. And I get, I get a lot of projects that don’t fit in any particular bin of, of someone’s specialty. So I’ve [done things like] gone scuba diving for projects etc.

I’ve been here for 14 years. But why don’t you kind of fill me in on, on kind of your history with the company?

Amanda: Oh, sure. I started at Otak in 2000. That was my first job out of college. So I was an EIT, worked into my PE as well as project management, and then found that I wanted to try a little bit on the public side.

So for 9 years I was working at two different agencies and really kind of missed consulting, missed the networking, missed working with multidisciplinary teams. So it’s been really nice coming back and being able to work with lots of different people.

Greg: What’s some of the like perspective that you brought from that that public work and, and working for who is frequently our client and coming back again?

Amanda: It’s really helpful to know where their pain points are and what things that they struggle with getting through their councils or through budget or really just working with the public.

So when, when it comes to how a design is put together or how a project is presented, if the public can’t quite understand it then and we need to redesign it. And so I, I have that perspective that’s really helpful just to see it from how the agency is going to be able to pay for it, explain it, maintain it in the future.

What’s it like working closely with the public and local communities?

3:21 [Skip to this chapter]

Amanda: Well, the urban planning side of my work is quite rewarding because it does create projects and work with the communities directly. So the community is really giving their voice to what the design team is working on, and it’s really does make for a much more creative project in the end, and you’re really doing something that the public wants.

One of the communities that I worked in is that there was an intersection that had lots of crashes. It was really unsafe and we worked really hard to get that intersection repaired. And now it’s not even on the safety list and nobody ever thinks about that intersection anymore.

It’s those kinds of things that it’s like, you know, you’ve done a good job when nobody talks about it anymore. A backwards way of finding pride in your projects. But it’s true.

What are some favorite projects you’ve worked on?

4:20 [Skip to this chapter]

Amanda: We had a project for Washington County, was Olson Rd. And it was one of my very first projects and it had taken almost two years to really get through all the design. There’s like 100 driveways to sign, lots of public outreach.

But that project sticks with me because I can drive it. In fact, I drive it as many times as I can.

The second project that was really rewarding to me was a project in Tigard through their downtown, and we submitted and got a national APWA award for it.

So it was on the cover of the magazine that we really need to see.

Greg: We did one project in Olympic National Park. Crystal Creek Bridge is the name of it, and it was a suspension bridge. It was asymmetrical. It was a design build project. So we’re working with the contractor really closely and making the decisions.

So there was kind of this additional insight that we had during design and it came out and it’s a really cool bridge.

How does your work benefit from a multidisciplinary environment?

5:30 [Skip to this chapter]

Amanda: It is important to work with other disciplines in the industry because it does help you kind of foresee some of the issues that you know are going to be coming. And the more that you can relate with their work kind of makes you design more stuff that much better.

It just goes that much more smoothly.

Greg: Especially early on in a project. I feel like sometimes you’ll get like a maybe a plan set and, and you can tell that it’s not a project yet. It’s four or five individual projects, each discipline kind of doing their own.

And then you start doing that collaboration where you, you sit down and you know, you’re all, if you do a plan sheet turn or whatever, but you trade and then you look at everybody else’s and you’re like, ‘oh, hey, I think we can change this here.’ And then when you start to blend that together.

Amanda: Or asking the questions, ‘why did you do it this way? What can I do to make this a little bit easier for you?’

Greg: And working with the same people you kind of get to know, this is something that, you know, we looked at previously with, with Amanda… she can probably solve this.

The deep bench that we have of that expertise in and, and have it all just in house, You’re just blown away by what you can find.

Amanda: I love that I can pick up the phone and call you anytime when I have a structural question that’s not even related to a project that we’re working on together. But just having that access to you or your team is really helpful to our transportation group.

See Our Transportation and Structural Work

4 Reasons Capital Improvement Projects (of Any Size) Benefit from an Owner’s Representative

Posted on by Otak Staff

Imagine an orchestra without a conductor. Musicians may play their individual parts well, but without cohesion. The result? Chaos. Managing capital improvement projects can be just as complex—without the right leadership, even small projects can easily go off track. That’s where an owner’s representative comes in. Acting as the project’s conductor, they represent the owner’s interests, allowing clients to focus on their day-to-day responsibilities and engage more meaningfully as a stakeholder in the project.

It’s clear why large projects benefit from an owner’s rep. Multiple contractors, complex requirements, and tight timelines make coordination especially crucial. But for smaller projects, it may not always seem as necessary. With rising costs, many owners think skipping an owner’s rep is a smart way to save. After all, many organizations have capable project managers on staff. The question is: Can the organization’s internal staff juggle project facilitation and oversight alongside their primary duties without compromising quality and the ability to manage risks for both?

Infographic showing 4 reasons capital projects of any size benefit from an owner's representative.

The reality is that there are no truly “small” projects. Even modest ones involve the steps of choosing the right consultants, managing budgets and schedules, and navigating the design and construction phases. Smaller projects often have similar complexities as larger ones, such as coordinating with multiple stakeholders or managing challenging logistics. In fact, larger projects can sometimes be more straightforward thanks to broader teams and experienced partners!

In this article, we dive into the role of an owner’s representative on capital improvement projects, with an eye on four key ways it adds value, even to “small” projects.

Read on, or skip ahead:

Contents
Contents
Contents
Contents
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1. Aligning Clear, Attainable Goals with the Client’s Vision

Hiring an owner’s rep on capital improvement projects ensures that the finer details are managed while the owner’s vision remains front and center. They help define priorities and ensure that the project stays true to those goals. For instance, if an owner wants to prioritize local contractors or work with historically underrepresented firms, an owner’s rep can guide those outcomes.

North Valley Complex: Oregon DAS

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Take a closer look at how, after the Beachie Creek Fire destroyed 193,556 acres of Northwest Oregon, a creative approach found a positive outcome to the disaster while meeting the client’s vision around locally-sourced materials.

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With a focus on budget and schedule management, the owner’s rep allows the client to stay focused on their mission while maintaining transparency. This accountability is invaluable for both private organizations and taxpayer-funded entities, as it demonstrates fiscal responsibility. Plus, a well-planned master budget provides confidence as owners better understand their financial exposure for the total project costs, not just direct construction, and make informed decisions when changes arise.

Engaging an owner’s rep early can also offer guidance on project delivery methods, like when to choose design-build over CM/GC or design-bid-build. Their expertise helps streamline the process, ensuring the right partners are involved at the right time.

2. Expanding Resources and Building Relationships for Future Projects

If you foresee more capital projects on the horizon, working with an owner’s rep on a smaller project is an excellent way to “test drive” the relationship. It allows owners an opportunity to assess their approach, communication style, and fit, setting the stage for future collaboration. This effort can lead to establishing a trusted, lasting partnership that grows with an organization’s capital program.

Owner’s reps also offer a seamless way to bring specialized resources into a project. For public agencies, which often face long hiring timelines and competitive searches for qualified candidates, an owner’s rep contract provides instant access to essential expertise and staff augmentation. Rather than managing multiple RFPs or contracts for inspections, commissioning, or early due diligence, an owner’s rep can efficiently subcontract these services, saving time and streamlining the process. In smaller projects, where time is money, this efficiency is particularly beneficial and supports timely outcomes.

3. Enhancing Communication and Coordination with Stakeholders

Bringing the right team together at the right time can make or break a project. A skilled owner’s rep fosters open communication, innovation, problem solving, conflict resolution, and keeps everyone aligned.

For example, on the Vancouver Clinic expansion projects, Otak as owner’s rep led a collaborative project team environment, resulting in a project delivered three weeks early and $3 million under budget—even during the challenges of the pandemic.

View of Vancourver Clinic project exterior
The Vancouver Clinic: Ridgefield Location

Make no mistake, challenges occur on every project. Having the right combination of leadership, collaboration and engagement determines whether these challenges add to or detract from project outcomes.

4. Finding Efficiencies in Project Processes

With their experience managing multiple projects, owner’s reps often spot efficiencies that save time and money. This can be especially important when managing public funds such as school bonds.

An owner’s rep can anticipate supply chain issues or regional labor shortages and adjust the project plan accordingly. For instance, during the Medford School District’s Oakdale Middle School project, utilization of an owner’s rep expedited the procurement of long-lead items like window systems to avoid delays.

Interior view of a classroom as part of a capital improvement project for Oakdale Middle School
Oakdale Middle School (Photo Credit: Josh Partee)

A Partner That Fits the Project

With capital improvement projects covering a wide range of objectives, Otak’s owner representation services are scalable to fit each project’s unique needs. The group has helped clients with everything from drafting RFPs for an HOA’s paving contractor to offering design phase management on a county health services project until the agency felt comfortable taking over to manage in-house. Using a tailored approach means clients get the expertise they need when they need it, whether that’s for a single phase or the entire project.

Capital improvement projects—large or small—can be complicated but incredibly rewarding. By partnering with an owner’s representative, a project gains an advocate who understands it’s overarching vision and manages the details necessary to reach it. An owner’s representative orchestrates complexities at any scale so project owners can stay focused on the primary mission, giving confidence in completing projects with lasting impact.

See Our Owner’s Rep Work