Praise for Symbiotic Engineering and Dr. Whitaker from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory

"Symbiotic Engineering, and in particular Dr. Michael Whitaker, have been and will continue to be important partners in sustainability research for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Working with Symbiotic Engineering is a collaboration in the truest sense. Ideas easily flow between us and are well implemented by the Symbiotic Engineering staff. The research is executed to high quality standards, is delivered on-time and within budget. The written embodiment of our research is clear, accurate and as concise or detailed as required. They are pleasant and efficient to work with, will go the extra mile and are flexible to adjusting course where the situation demands it. When working with Symbiotic Engineering, you also know that you are supporting a small, but growing, business that is a leader in the sustainability field both by their work output and by example in how they manage their business."

Garvin Heath, PhD
Senior Environmental Scientist and Engineer
National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Life Cycle Assessments

Symbiotic Engineering has extensive experience in conducting life cycle assessments (LCAs) in accordance with the ISO 14040 series of standards to evaluate the environmental impacts of products and process. Symbiotic Engineering uses the professional LCA software SimaPro 7.1 and its associated data sets to customize analyses for clients. Symbiotic has conducted LCAs ranging in scope from screening LCAs that take a couple of weeks and give clients a sense of the key environmental decision points related to the development of their products to multiple month, in depth, peer-reviewed analyses of major proposed international initiatives. Symbiotic conducts studies for internal client review, for federal government funding
opportunities, and for external publication.

Project Experience

  • Lead author on National Renewable Energy Laboratory technical reports
  • Analyses of international and domestic scenarios
  • Multiple peer reviewed reports

Examples

  • Jatropha biodiesel production in India
  • Bio-butanol production using power plant carbon capture and concentrating solar bioreactors
  • Biodiesel production from advanced castor bean cultivation in the U.S. and Brazil
  • Bio-acrylic acid production
  • Distributed electricity generation in California

Greening by the Numbers® - Our Approach to Life Cycle Assessment

Greening by the Numbers encapsulates Symbiotic Engineering’s philosophy that sustainability and greening initiatives should be rigorously quantified using verifiable methodologies and robust analyses. We believe that all analyses should be conducted using a life cycle perspective that accounts for impacts that cascade throughout connected systems. We approach sustainability from both the top-down on an aggregate level and the bottom-up on the individual level. Our top-down approach gives cities, companies, developers, and program managers powerful tools to quantify, track, evaluate, visualize, and report on the effectiveness of their sustainability initiatives. Our bottom-up approach provides the tools and mechanisms to enhance community engagement in order to maximize the benefits of sustainability programs.