Resilience and Sustainability

How do Sustainability and Resilience Work Together in Design?

Sustainability and resilience are closely connected in the design of buildings and infrastructure, but they serve distinct purposes. Sustainability focuses on reducing environmental impact and optimizing long-term performance, while resilience ensures systems can withstand, adapt to, and recover from disruption. Together, they guide how we deliver high-performance, future-ready solutions across aviation, transportation, federal, and commercial markets.

RS&H delivers sustainable, resilient solutions across aviation, transportation, federal, corporate, healthcare, and science markets nationwide. Our integrated teams combine planning, architecture, and engineering to reduce risk, improve performance, and optimize lifecycle value. With experience across complex projects and evolving regulations, we help clients build infrastructure that lasts.

What Do Sustainability and Resilience Mean at RS&H?

At RS&H, sustainability and resilience are not separate goals; they are integrated into how we plan, design, and deliver projects. Sustainability prioritizes efficient use of energy, water, and materials to reduce environmental impact over time. Resilience focuses on preparing infrastructure and facilities to perform under stress, whether from extreme weather, operational disruption, or long-term system demands.

Understanding the difference between sustainability and resilience helps clients make better decisions. While sustainability reduces strain on systems, resilience ensures those systems continue to function when conditions change. In practice, resilience complements sustainability by strengthening long-term performance, reducing risk, and protecting investments.

For our clients, this integrated approach results in high-performance, sustainable solutions that are not only efficient but durable, adaptable, and built to serve communities for decades.

Colorfully illuminated architectural bridge structure with modern design at dusk.

Our Resilience & Sustainability Commitment

We are committed to relentless internal continuous improvement; our projects, clients, and communities benefit from RS&H’s drive, and our commitment to resilience and sustainability ensures we apply design-excellence best practices to meet our goals and our clients’ goals.

Resilience & Sustainability Through Collective Action

Sustainability and resilience shape every phase of project delivery, from early planning through long-term operations. Explore the topics below to understand how these principles apply across RS&H’s services, markets, and real-world project outcomes.

We believe that collective action leads to real change. We strive to promote sustainability in our projects and throughout our firm through innovation, education, and action.

Aerial view of Crosstown Parkway bridge over a river, surrounded by lush greenery and residential area.

Sustainability reduces environmental impact through efficient resource use, while resilience ensures systems can adapt to disruption, creating stronger, longer-lasting solutions.

People participating in a group planting activity in a bright, open office space.

From aviation and transportation to federal and corporate projects, RS&H applies sustainable resilience planning to deliver infrastructure that performs reliably under changing conditions.

Electric vehicle charging stations marked "BT" at airport parking area.

Integrating sustainability and resilience helps clients reduce risk, control lifecycle costs, and build infrastructure that supports communities today and into the future.

Group of people participating in a tree planting event, holding an RS&H sign

RS&H Sustainability & Resilience Services

Explore how RS&H integrates sustainability and resilience into planning, design, and infrastructure delivery to create high-performance, future-ready solutions.

View Sustainability & Resilience Projects

RS&H Year-in-Review

See how RS&H delivers measurable impact through projects, performance, and innovation across our national architecture and engineering practice.

View Year-in-Review

Featured Projects

Comprehensive Transportation Sustainability Consulting

With RS&H’s support, the TPO has documented 112 million gasoline gallons equivalent (GGE) displacement and over 141,000 tons of GHG emissions – equivalent to the annual emissions of over 30,000 passenger vehicles and $48,000,000 in health benefits.

Transportation

Electric car charging at a public charging station surrounded by greenery

Philadelphia International Airport

RS&H performed design and bid phase services to reconstruct Taxiway J from Taxiway Z to Taxiway Y and connect Taxiways K7, K8, and their associated safety areas.

Aviation

Aerial view of airport runway and taxiway with parked airplanes, city skyline visible in the distance.

Comprehensive Sustainability Services

Over the past 30 years, RS&H has supported continuous, data-driven sustainability performance improvement for the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA), which operates a worldwide network of over 280 commissaries and central distribution centers.

Federal

Commissary entrance with brick exterior, sign above, and a person walking inside.

Monroe County Coastal Storm Risk Study

RS&H is working with the Florida Department of Transportation to identify and prioritize vulnerabilities to flooding along the corridor and develop concepts to ensure the continuation of service following a flooding event now and in the future.

Transportation