Our first project in Advanced Sustainable Design during the spring semester of my junior year was to analyze a proposed levee system for Galveston Bay using the ISI Envision rating system. The SSPEED Center has been working on a Houston-Galveston Area Protection System (H-GAPS) to protect the region against a very large hurricane event. They have developed three alternatives, and my group was tasked with evaluating the Mid-Bay Gate strategy.

Within the ENVISION criteria, I focused specifically on materials (ENVISION credits RA1.1-1.7) and life cycle analysis. For each credit, I rated the current design via ENVISION, then suggested and analyzed methods to achieve a higher rating.