Laguna Force Main Receives Sustainable Technology Project of the Year Award 
Green Valley Consulting Engineers was bestowed the 2011 Outstanding Sustainable Technology Project of the Year Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) San Francisco Section for the Laguna Force Main project located in the City of Sebastopol.
The project required the design and replacement of over one mile of sewer main near the environmentally sensitive area of Laguna de Santa Rosa Wetlands on State Highway 12. Additional design features included the mitigation of seasonal wetlands, crossing State Highway 12, and working under the jurisdiction of at least six different municipalities and regulatory agencies. Green Valley provided surveying, civil engineering and construction management services. Other sub-consultants on the project included Prunuske Chatham, WRA, and ECON.
One of the unique features the project was recognized for was the innovative and cutting edge implementation of a Vortex Flow Insert—a sustainable and revolutionary technology—which is designed to eliminate odorous hydrogen sulphide emissions, and operates without an energy source—completely passive. The project was also recognized for its use of trenchless pipeline construction methods and fusible High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pipe, an alternative pipe installation method. See press release (PDF).
Two Projects Honored with the North Bay Business Journal's 2011 Top Real Estate Project Awards
Bodean Mark West Quarry Solar Power Project and the Stony Point Plaza Redevelopment Project were selected by the North Bay Business Journal as the North Bay's Top Real Estate Projects of 2011 in the Solar and Retail categories, respectively. Both projects were recognized for their contributions to the community as well as the achievement involved in completing them. Both projects will be featured in an upcoming edition of the North Bay Business Journal, as well as being recognized at a reception on December 14 at the Petaluma Sheraton Hotel.
Bodean Rock Quarry Solar Panel Project Wins Special Project of the Year
The Bodean Company—an aggregate and asphalt supplier located in Santa Rosa, California—acted upon its commitment to sustainability by installing the largest solar panel system of its kind at its Mark West Quarry location. With 3,444 solar panels, this innovative solar power project is the largest in the western United States and makes the BoDean Company the first quarry in the world to go 100 percent solar at one of its quarry sites. The impressive new system is capable of generating 1.165 megawatts of green electricity annually and offsets the release of 1,844,521 pounds of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) per year—the equivalent of driving 2,494,595 miles in an average car. In other words, to offset this level of yearly emissions would require the planting of 5,592 trees a year. Such emissions would be equal to the annual energy usage of 160 typical residential homes in the U.S.
Green Valley Consulting Engineers was retained by Stellar Energy to provide "very precise" construction staking for 864 Terrafix earth screws used to anchor the solar panel rack system to the steep quarry terrain. The almost vertical rock mining site posed intriguing challenges since Green Valley's work needed to be conducted on a steep 1:1 or 2:1 angle slope requiring the use of special terrain screw mounting systems and shotcreting for erosion control. Because of the physically exhausting landscape and the need to stay ahead of a tight installation schedule, Green Valley needed to 'think outside of the box' and decided to employ "quick stakes" which are lighter and faster to place—taking roughly 1/3 less time when compared with traditional "lath" stakes.
The project was awarded Special Project of the Year for construction staking on extreme terrain. See press release (PDF).
Green Valley's "2010 Dogs on the Loose" Postcard Series Wins Coveted Marketing Excellence Award
Green Valley was recognized for its exceptional marketing and graphic design
efforts with the receipt of the coveted Zweig White Marketing Excellence Award for our "2010 Dogs on the Loose" postcard series.
Beating out its competition including national firms such as TRC, a 2400-person firm listed on the Top 500 ENR list, Green Valley's "Dog's on the Loose" postcard series was touted as being "eye catching and colorful".
Back in 2009 Green Valley launched its catchy and clever monthly postcard series featuring a dog and highlighting a client project or service. Since then, Green Valley has become known as the 'dog postcard company' and continues on with sending out postcards to our clients throughout the Bay Area and beyond.
Are you interested in being on our mailing list and receiving one of our award-winning postcards each month? If so, simply email: kristie@gvalley.com and we'll be sure to add you to our list!
About the award: The Zweig Marketing Letter 2011 Marketing Excellence Awards recognize the exceptional marketing efforts of architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental consulting firms in the United States and Canada. To learn more about the award and the winners, click here. See press release (PDF).
Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce Honors Liz Ellis
President of Green Valley Consulting Engineers Receives Leadership Award
During the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce Leadership Santa Rosa Awards program hosted at the Vintners Inn on Wednesday April 13th, leaders from around Sonoma County were celebrated and honored for their extraordinary contribution to the community through their time, talent and commitment. Among the honorees was Liz Ellis, President of Green Valley Consulting Engineers.
Ms. Ellis was the winner of the business and economy category. She was recognized for growing her company to become a leading Sonoma County Engineering firm which provides jobs to over twenty-nine employees. In addition, Ms. Ellis was honored for her contributions to notable civic and open-space projects throughout the North Bay including: the new LEED Certified Gold Windsor Fire Station #2 project, the Pierson Reach Pedestrian Pathway and Prince Gateway Park along the Prince Memorial Greenway in Railroad Square, as well as her role in multiple river and creek restoration projects along the Russian River and the Laguna de Santa Rosa and other water estuaries that have been critical to preserving endangered species. Ms. Ellis was also recognized for her tireless support of animal rescue and women's wellness organizations.
Always willing to share her appreciation and give credit where credit is due, Ms Ellis said to her team of employees during the event, "I would not have been up there without all of you making Green Valley Consulting Engineers what it is—I am very grateful for everything that you do that allows me to represent Green Valley!"
To read the nomination, click here.
Green Valley Rings in the New Year with Another Project of the Year Award—Fort Bragg Downtown Streetscape Project Delivers a Lot of "Bang for the Buck" - Third Award Bestowed to the Highly Acclaimed Project
Green Valley Consulting Engineers received their third award for the newly constructed Fort Bragg Downtown Streetscape project. Following the receipt of the Outstanding Small Transportation Project of the year award from the ASCE Section Awards, The Fort Bragg Downtown Streetscape project went on to win an even more prestigious award, the ASCE Region 9 (California) Outstanding Small Transportation Project of the Year award. Green Valley will be recognized at a gala event on February 9, 2010 during a special awards banquet in Sacramento, California.
ASCE Regional Awards committee member Douglas Taylor stated, "Your project won because it demonstrated exceptional creativity as well as economy which are hallmarks of civil engineering... especially in this economic climate. In a word, your project delivered a lot of bang for the buck".
Hard Work Pays Off—Green Valley is awarded the Sustainable Project of the Year Award for the new Windsor Fire Station #2 Project
Green Valley also receives Transportation Project of the Year for the Fort Bragg Downtown Streetscape project.
Green Valley Consulting Engineers was honored to receive the 2009 Outstanding Sustainable Project of the Year Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) San Francisco Section for their design work on Windsor Fire Station #2 located in the Town of Windsor, California. Green Valley also received the 2009 Outstanding Transportation Project of the Year Award for the newly constructed Fort Bragg Downtown Streetscape. Recipients were recognized on Friday, September 25, 2009 during a special awards banquet in Burlingame, California. Learn more about the Windsor Fire Station project and the Fort Bragg Downtown Streetscape project.
City of Fort Bragg Downtown Streetscape Honored
Green Valley Receives 2009 Engineering Excellence Award
Green Valley Consulting Engineers was awarded a Small Firm Merit Award in the ACEC (American Council of Engineering Companies) California's 2009 Engineering Award Competition for the City of Fort Bragg's Downtown Streetscape project.
The Downtown Streetscape Project is about a community's commitment of individual and collective action to accomplish economic and physical revitalization in Downtown Fort Bragg while improving the livability of an already special community. This project was demonstrative in its ability of people with diverse interests, backgrounds, resources, and ideas coming together to forge new paths for the good of the community. Most importantly, it is about people striving to understand others' perspectives and, together, journeying towards a better quality of life.
Green Valley brought forward the City's dream by creating a visually exciting urban corridor that was true to the City of Fort Bragg's Vision Plan—to have a downtown where pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, and motorists all wanted to come, walk, visit, play, and stay! The project entailed over one-mile of roadway reconstruction that also employed an environmentally-friendly and cutting-edge solution called cold-foam asphalt base stabilization and recycling. (Download this PDF and learn more about how Green Valley can save you up to 30% on construction costs on your next project by using 'cold foam asphalt' technology)
Project Selected as Riverfront Urban Transformation Project of the Year
Client: City of Oroville
The City of Oroville in conjunction with Green Valley Consulting Engineers was bestowed the 2008 ASCE Region 9 Riverfront Urban Transformation Project of the Year award for the Oroville Riverfront Improvement project.
About the project: The City of Gold, as it was known in the 1800's during its burgeoning gold-mining days, saw a golden opportunity to create a recreational wonderland along the City's riverfront area as part of their efforts to stimulate and revitalize their local economy.
Under a $3,000,000 grant awarded by the State of California, Green Valley was charged with transforming the neglected and misused brownfield into 3600 linear feet of attractive and appealing public open space. Improvements included a fifteen-foot wide meandering promenade with riverfront overlooks within a park. Period lighting and shade trees alternate in placement along the promenade creating a rhythmic repetition. Overlooks punctuate the termination of streets below the levee offering visitors a closer connection to the river environment, but at a safe distance. Park and street furnishings such as benches, interpretative signage, an innovative water feature that is activated by a motion sensor in which mist sprays from the base of the rocks, and bike racks have made the promenade a functional and inviting place.
In an effort to save money and resources Green Valley chose to design the plaza and promenade above the levee which in turn kept the project limits outside of the jurisdiction of the Army Corps of Engineers 100-year flood elevation.
On the river side a retaining wall was designed to be circular for aesthetic and landscape architecture reasons and features a decorative guardrail at the top and to maximize resources was backfilled with dredging spoils.
Green Valley Awarded for Engineering Excellence
Pomo Bluffs Coastal Park Honored
Green Valley was selected to receive a Small Firm Merit Award in the Consulting Engineers and Land Surveyors
of California (CELSOC) 2007 Engineering Excellence Award competition for their design and engineering
excellence of Pomo Bluffs Coastal Park in Fort Bragg, California. The awards ceremony will be held on January
22, 2007 in Sacramento.
Pomo Bluffs Coastal Park was recognized for its commitment to restoring a sacred coastal resource, providing safe access to coastal bluff and viewing overlooks of the Pacific Ocean, and contributing to the revitalization of a community. The Park was designed in such a way as to minimize the environmental footprint made on the site. Extensive permitting and close coordination with the Coastal Conservancy was required.
Liz Ellis of Green Valley says, "Pomo Bluffs Park exemplifies Green Valley's dedication to partnering with municipal agencies to provide community excellence. We are delighted to have received the CELSOC Merit Award." A PDF version of the press release is available here (26K).
Liz Ellis Honored Recipient of the North Bay Business Journal 2007 Women in Business Award
On June 21, 2007 the North Bay Business Journal honored nine women from Sonoma, Marin and Napa counties who have distinguished themselves as leaders, innovators and visionaries in their fields at the seventh annual Women in Business Awards Dinner Gala. Liz Ellis, Founding Principal of Green Valley Consulting Engineers, was the proud recipient of the honor award for women in the Construction industry.
Laura Alber, president of Williams-Sonoma Inc. and leader of the successful Pottery Barn Kids, Pbteen and Pottery Barn Bed + Bath brands was the key note speaker for the evening awards gala dinner held at the Hyatt Vineyard Creek Hotel & Spa in Santa Rosa. Download the article (PDF) as it was featured in the North Bay Business Journal.
Green Valley Awarded
for Environmental Engineering Excellence 
Sonoma County Riverfront Regional Park Honored
On Friday, September 23rd, 2005 Green Valley was honored to receive the Outstanding Environmental
Engineering Project of the Year Award by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) for their environmental
engineering excellence for the Sonoma County Riverfront Regional Park. The award ceremony was held at the
World Trade Club in San Francisco with the purpose of recognizing individuals and organizations that deliver
excellence and inspire others through outstanding contributions in the field of civil engineering.
About the Park Located on Eastside Road in Windsor, California, the Sonoma County Riverfront Regional Park was a former gravel and mining quarry. Acquired in 2002 through the joint efforts of the Sonoma County Water Agency and Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District, the project goal was to protect riparian habitat in the Russian River watershed by preserving the Riverfront property as permanent open space. The 305-acre property features a variety of habitats, including 132-acres of reclaimed gravel- mining pits converted to three year-round recreational lakes with large mouth bass fishing, 32-acres of marshland, 15-acres of redwood forest, and 5,500 feet of pristine frontage along the Russian River.
At the awards ceremony Liz Ellis of Green Valley stated "The Sonoma County Riverfront Regional Park project is a classic example of successful multiple agency collaboration for the benefit of the community. The Sonoma County Water Agency, Army Corps of Engineers, County of Sonoma, North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, California Department of Fish and Game and the Sonoma County Regional Parks Department individually and collectively were committed to restoring the neglected and ill-treated Riverfront Property."
Green Valley Receives Honor Award for Design & Engineering of Pierson Reach Pathway
Green Valley was selected to receive an Honor Award in the Consulting Engineers and Land Surveyors of
California (CELSOC) 2005 Engineering Excellence Award competition. Pierson Reach Pedestrian Path in Santa
Rosa was recognized for its technical value, innovative engineering, social and economic considerations,
complexity, and meeting the needs of the client. Green Valley provided complete structural and civil engineering
services for this project. As a part of design, extensive permitting was required from six separate agencies.
The awards ceremony took place on Monday, January 24, 2005 in Sacramento. A PDF version of the press
release is available here (139k).