Neighborhood Sustainability

“Don’t blow it - good planets are hard to find.”
— Quoted in TIME Magazine

Neighborhoods

We aim to create neighborhoods that are integrated within the larger community and natural environment. Neighborhoods are arguably the fundamental realm where we can see the intersection of, and interactions between, People, Planet, and Prosperity.  The neighborhood is where we live, work, and play.  The neighborhood knits together people, buildings, landscapes, and everything in between, to create the physical places that exist within the larger region and natural environment. 

It makes sense then, to look at how to plan, design, and create sustainable neighborhoods that help address the most pressing social, environmental, and economic issues we face.  A sustainable neighborhood holds vast potential to transform the built environment into one that is beneficial for people, businesses, and the natural environment.

Areas of Expertise

Cunningham Engineering is at the forefront of creating sustainable neighborhoods, and has experience and knowledge in the following areas of neighborhood design and planning: 

  • Mixed-Use Development

  • Transit Oriented Development (TOD)

  • Location efficiency, accessibility, & connectivity

  • Walkable Communities

  • LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) certification

  • New Urbanist designs

  • Smart Growth planning

  • Green buildings and infrastructure

  • Low Impact Development (LID)

  • Complete streets

  • Bicycle path planning & design

  • Infill development & redevelopment

  • Integration of on-site renewable energy into project site layouts

  • Materials reuse & recycling

  • Urban gardens & agriculture

  • Affordable housing

  • Environmental & Agency requirements (SWPPPs, ADA, EIRs)

  • Neighborhood visualizations (photo-simulations, 3-D modeling & renderings)

  • Community outreach & engagement

  • Green building codes (CALGreen)

  • Climate change legislation (SB375) & strategies for reducing GHG emissions

Neighborhood Showcase: UC Davis West Village

Cunningham Engineering has been instrumental in the design and construction of West Village, the new UC Davis campus neighborhood that is the largest planned zero-net energy community in the nation.