Plenty of SCS industrial refrigeration experts will be on hand at BOOTH 509 at the 2023 RETA National Conference, November 14-17, at the Hyatt Regency Riverfront, in Jacksonville, Florida.
The conference will cover a wide ranges of topics for professional development of industrial refrigeration operators and technicians. It spans four days filled with hands-on training, workshops, technical presentations, networking events, and an expansive exhibit hall. No matter your level of experience or position within the Industrial Refrigeration Industry, this educational conference has an all-encompassing and comprehensive program designed to enhance your knowledge and success.
The conference is organized by the Refrigerating Engineers & Technicians Association (RETA) and is always a great event! We hope to see you there!
Join SCS Engineers professionals at the IEA’s 39th Annual Environmental Training Symposium & Conference, June 1-2, at the San Diego Convention Center.
This conference includes over two dozen educational sessions on four tracks running simultaneously over two days, and features a robust Exhibit Hall, an Awards Luncheon, and a San Diego Bay Yacht Cruise. Panels topics will include air, hazardous materials, health & safety, sustainability, and water quality, with expert speakers from Southern California.
Hundreds of attendees from various professions such as environmental, health, and safety experts, NGO representatives, environmental engineers from public and private sectors, environmental consultants and attorneys, government affairs representatives, DoD, and many more are expected to attend.
Click for more details and registration information. Hope to see you there!
Be part of the community of change by participating in GreenBiz23 conference and expo, February 14-16, in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Today’s sustainability professional is under pressure to do more, and do it faster, than ever before. What will it take to address the complex issues on your plate at the scale, scope and speed required? GreenBiz 23, the premier gathering of 1,800 sustainable business leaders, will deliver the insight and inspiration you need to accelerate change.
Join the dynamic GreenBiz 23 community to harness the knowledge of experts, peers and new voices to help you achieve net zero, advance the circular economy, elevate social justice, safeguard biodiversity, build resilient supply chains and more. You’ll gain access to inspiring keynotes, engaging breakout sessions and valuable networking that will help you address these complex issues.
The conference features tracks on:
The expo will feature more than 50 organizations paving the way for sustainable business. Learn about the technologies, programs and practices that these companies are employing while forming valuable connections with members of the dynamic GreenBiz community.
To Learn More and for Registration Info
Companies face intense pressure to drive sustainability across their operations as regulators, investors, and young professionals ask for more efforts to tackle Climate Change. This year alone marks several monumental events. Among them is a proposed Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule requiring businesses to disclose climate risks, including greenhouse gas emissions. And United Nations COP27, where public and private decision-makers worldwide continued ongoing collaboration to strategize on meeting the Paris Agreement goals.
Forward-thinking, sustainability-conscious companies, are responding to the proverbial “writing on the wall,” trying to figure out their carbon footprint and how to reduce it. Professionals whose first call is to protect the health of the communities they serve are at the forefront of this sustainability movement.
The success of initiatives hinges on careful attention to every step and the presence of many integral components between them. Environmental, Social, and Governance – ESG and applying these non-financial factors as part of a sustainability analysis process identifies material risks and growth opportunities. Achieving the outcomes you aim for commands a robust, rounded approach that accounts for greenhouse gas emissions; energy, water, and land use; and waste management, among variables that impact carbon footprint.
“The job commands meticulous reporting and data analysis skills to measure and understand the impact. And it calls for a whole menu of technical and business competencies to deliver a comprehensive strategy that is both economically and environmentally sustainable,” says SCS Engineers’ Director of Sustainability Ajay Vonkarey.
About Ajay Vonkarey
Vonkarey, new to the national environmental consulting, engineering, and construction company, is a seasoned civil and environmental engineer with years of experience as a sustainability professional.
Vonkarey’s forte is building and supporting teams that develop and execute sustainability roadmaps. He leads a multidisciplinary team at SCS in helping customers plan, executes, and report on similar strategies to lessen their carbon footprint as they reach for zero waste and other ambitious goals.
“This is a good marriage of my background and experience in planning for sustainability and the broad and extensive environmental experience of SCS, which has long recognized the importance of responsibility to people and the planet,” Vonkarey says.
Taking a Holistic Approach
Clients turn to SCS for assistance with air, water, and soil compliance and reporting, greenhouse gas monitoring, inventories, and verification. And they come for support in ensuring efficient resource utilization while reducing carbon footprints—whether converting methane into clean, renewable energy; redeveloping idle brownfields into vibrant community assets; or designing and building compost and recycling facilities.
Now SCS is expanding its services in response to evolving industry demands driven by changing environmental and economic conditions and tightening regulations. Vonkarey is building a multidisciplinary team from the firm’s pool of experts to offer more support as clients opt to take their sustainability work further or close the gaps between plans and measurable outcomes.
“SCS has worked for decades on ‘the downstream’ end of sustainability—designing and executing projects for improved environmental outcomes. We are leveraging our expertise to deliver a holistic, balanced approach, beginning upstream— with the work that must happen at the start of the journey. We stay with the client through every step in between to ultimately provide successful end-to-end sustainability solutions,” Vonkarey says.
The multi-faceted process starts with an asset assessment, which starts with a Materiality assessment, broken down by each asset and its emissions.“We examine the consumption and utilization of these resources. The data we capture tells us, do we focus on real estate? Do we need to look closer at our energy or water utilization?”
Informing Decision-Making
This information also informs deeper decisions associated with the next step, which is to build a roadmap. This detailed plan will guide the integration of clients’ sustainability goals and strategies across their businesses.
“Once we have the roadmap in place, we will do what SCS has done for the past 52 years: execute those plans and collect and verify data to report outcomes. That data ultimately informs how to improve efficiency moving forward and reach the NetZero goal faster,” Vonkarey says.
While strategically approaching every stage is critical to delivering comprehensive sustainability solutions, as important is to have a full-service team in place. Rounded expertise is essential to devising technically sound solutions with lasting environmental and economic benefits.
“We have scientists, geologists, civil and environmental engineers who design and build projects. We have technology developers and specialists who collect, manage and analyze data. And on the business side, SCS has financial staff to inform smart investments and human resource management,” says Vonkarey.
Meanwhile, operators remain focused on other endeavors that need their full attention: their day-to-day operations, bringing in new customers, and expanding their markets. At the same time, as new climate policies and rules are rolling out and emission reduction targets increase, they have plans to meet them.
An Optimistic Outlook
“We read the headlines about Climate Change too, but our perspective differs from that of many stakeholders. At SCS, we are greatly encouraged by the extensive efforts already started. We want to help operators understand what is and will be expected of them as they are called on to address environmental issues. We can show how those expectations relate to their specific business. And we can help ensure their investment in the most appropriate, sound strategies. Together, we can make the planet better,” Vonkeray says.
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 was signed into law on March 11, 2021. It provides funds to address health outcome disparities from pollution and the COVID–19 pandemic. To learn more about the ARP, read the House Bill.
EPA is assisting under-resourced communities by quickly getting out ARP funding to leverage important programs that improve air quality, drinking water, revitalization of brownfields, diesel emissions from buses in low-income communities and communities of color. In addition, the agency is awarding its first competitive grants focusing directly on the unequal impacts the COVID-19 pandemic has had on communities of color, low-income communities, and other vulnerable populations.
Projects include training, developing citizen-science tools, pollution monitoring, and educational campaigns to enable EJ advocates such as SCS Engineers, scientists, and decision-makers to address pollution and create thriving communities.
Funding currently being distributed totals approximately $2.8 million for 14 EJ-focused projects, with more to be announced soon throughout the country. In addition to the Baltimore City grant, today’s announcement includes funding for the following projects in underserved communities:
EPA also announced for the first time how the agency would distribute the $50 million in ARP funds.
A breakdown is provided below:
