Environment & Sustainability

Industry Analysis

How Does Pink Fire Retardant Affect the Environment?

Helping our clients decarbonize, protect worker health, and mitigate pollution

Utilities

Assessing grid resilience and extreme weather impacts; quantifying the effects of climate change on vulnerable populations; supporting renewable energy and reduced carbon emissions goals.

Supporting emergent technologies; advising on next-gen biodegradable food packaging and material substitutions; assessing chemical fate and transport; analyzing impacts on humans, water, and the environment.

Electronics

Assisting with energy efficient product design, product recycling, sustainable manufacturing and packaging, and hazardous waste management.

Consumer Products

Supporting next-gen consumer product testing; helping with waste reduction in manufacturing processes and packaging; developing more sustainable packaging, including assessing options for recycled and bio-based materials.

Construction

Preventing earth structure erosion; promoting climate resilience; advising on green building engineering; improving sustainable building envelopes.

Laboratory research examines a green leaf in petri dish. Exponent provides testing and analysis to improve food safety.

Food & Beverage

Helping create emergent technologies for pesticides and fertilizers; supporting compliance with global regulatory frameworks; assisting with sustainable manufacturing and packaging.

Government & Public Sector

Quantifying climate resilience; providing environmental impact studies and catastrophe response consulting; supporting government initiatives.

Information Technology

Supporting energy efficiency in data centers and sustainability in manufacturing processes; helping develop next-gen components.

Medical professionals review cranial scans on a computer screen. Exponent data scientists help you capture the right data.

Life Sciences & Healthcare

Improving medical and hazardous waste management; analyzing chemical emissions; advising on toxicology studies; helping implement best practices for occupational health.

Manufacturing Process Control & Quality Insurance [DS]

Manufacturing Technology & Industrial

Advising on the assembly of line energy efficiencies, manufacturing discharges and mitigation strategies; helping develop circular economy strategies, including chemical regeneration technologies.

Mining

Assessing tailing-dam failures, fugitive dust, and groundwater flows; evaluating erosion impacts; modeling dispersant pollutants; analyzing impacts on humans and the environment.

A picture of a long oil and gas pipeline. Exponent materials engineers analyze corrosion and help improve pipeline materials.

Energy

Planning for climate change and spill remediation; providing environmental impact studies, catastrophe response consulting, and chemical fate and transport modeling; helping bring innovative solar and wind technologies to market.

For Southern California Edison (SCE), we brought together

buildings and structures , risk analysis , electrical engineering and computer science , environmental analysis

How Do You Prepare the Grid for Climate Threats?

Southern California Edison (SCE), the primary electricity provider across much of Southern and Eastern California with a territory of 50,000+ square miles and 15M+ customers, turned to Exponent to assess potential short- and long-term threats to their expansive electric infrastructure due to impacts of climate change.

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First, our experts created "hazard curves" to model the likelihood of specific hazards in various geographies and utilized stationary and non-stationary climate models to quantify hazard intensity and frequency. Then, we analyzed the SCE power grid infrastructure under various hazards (e.g., wildfire, wind, heat storm, etc.) to define the biggest threats to the electric system.
We also assessed the vulnerabilities of more than 120 types of transmission, sub-transmission, and distribution assets given different conditions over time, and combined all our information with lab testing, historical failure rates, and standards and specifications to create "fragility curves" relating hazard intensity to the probability of unwanted outcomes.
We empowered SCE with decision-making models by combining the "fragility curves" and "hazard curves" on maps. We leveraged Exponent's Data Sciences experts to tabulate and clean the data, amounting to more than 5 million pieces of data crunched. To support SCE with clear guidance on where potential investments in preventive maintenance and strategic mitigation could be considered, our deliverables included robust dashboards and reports in geographic information systems (GIS) and PowerBI.

Capabilities

What Can We Help You Solve?

Across decades of helping clients manage their environmental impact, we've developed specialized capabilities to address the most vital challenges. And we thrive on innovating new ways to help.

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Heavy smog over the city. Exponent helps you accurately assess environmental impacts and business liabilities associated with contamination.

Chemical Fate & Transport

An aerial view of a river surrounded by green grass. Exponent exposure assessments, environmental forensics, and remediation support.

Environmental Chemistry & Geochemistry

Environmental Permitting

Environmental Risk Assessment

Intake & Dietary Risk/Safety Assessments (Dietary Exposure and Human Health Risk Assessments)

Food and Nutrition Science Support

Geospatial & Landscape Analysis

Exponent helps determine responsibility for historic chemical releases due to industrial or chemical manufacturing.

Historical Reconstruction of Chemical Releases

Hazmat worker performs hazardous material cleanup. Exponent provides technical support for all types of industrial contamination

Industrial Contamination Management

Environmental modeling map. Exponent provides advanced environmental modeling and analysis services.

Modeling & Analysis

Natural Resource Damage Assessment

Oil Spill Assessment

Workers assess wind and alternative energy. Exponent provide expertise for sustainability and climate change issues.

Sustainability & Climate Change

Clean, bubbling water. Exponent provides water consulting services to help analyze, optimize and manage water resources.

Water Sciences & Management

Wildfire Impact

Testing & Evaluations

Best-in-Class Facilities Meet World-Class Experts

Our multidisciplinary teams of scientists and engineers at Exponent facilities in the U.S., Europe, and Asia are uniquely positioned to provide rapid response, onsite inspections, bespoke testing, and unparalleled scientific analysis, data, and research.

Meeting Your Challenges Where They Are

Ensuring regulatory compliance. Evaluating equipment safety. Assessing site surface conditions. Our integrated teams of experts in North America, Europe, and Asia conduct on-site inspections, custom testing, and rapid response for a wide range of challenges. Exponent can also assist with inspections in remote locations through encrypted video-streaming capabilities.