Terracon Wins Top Awards for Tech, Community, and Climate Solutions

SAN DIEGO, CA – February 17, 2026 – Engineering consulting firm Terracon has secured four significant Business Achievement Awards for 2025 from the Environmental Business Journal® (EBJ) and Climate Change Business Journal (CCBJ), prestigious publications that track the environmental industry. The awards, which recognize innovation in technology, sustainable development, and climate resilience, highlight the firm's multifaceted approach to solving complex environmental challenges.

The accolades celebrate a diverse portfolio of work, from a revolutionary mobile data platform to the transformation of a contaminated urban site into a hub for renewable energy and fresh food. The recognition underscores a broader industry trend where environmental solutions are increasingly intertwined with technological advancement, community equity, and climate change adaptation.

“In a year of growth but some volatility for the $570 billion U.S. environmental industry in 2025, a number of companies distinguished themselves with business model evolution, new practices, technical innovation, M&A, or signature projects that merit the special recognition of an EBJ Business Achievement Award,” stated Grant Ferrier, editor of EBJ and chair of the award selection committee.

Terracon, an employee-owned firm with over 8,000 staff nationwide, sees the awards as a validation of its core mission.

“The employee-owners at Terracon are dedicated to serving our clients with innovative solutions that also benefit the environment and our communities,” said Mark White, P.G., environmental service line director for Terracon's Western Operating Group. “We are honored to be recognized by EBJ and CCBJ for these outstanding contributions that reflect our company values.”

The Digital Overhaul of Environmental Services

Two of Terracon's awards spotlight the critical role of technology in modernizing environmental management. The firm received an EBJ award for Information Technology for its FactorEarth platform, a mobile data collection tool that tackles a persistent challenge in the field: working in remote, disconnected areas.

Developed by Metcalf Archaeological Consultants, a Terracon company, in partnership with the Colorado School of Mines, FactorEarth allows specialists to collect data seamlessly offline. The platform's 'Record' application enables field collaboration and syncs data in seconds once a connection is available, exporting submission-ready reports in various formats. A more advanced 'Pro' version even incorporates augmented reality, providing a heads-up geospatial display for real-time, in-field analysis. This digital toolkit streamlines environmental permitting and planning, reducing manual errors and accelerating project timelines.

In a similar vein, Terracon earned a CCBJ award for an Innovation/Unique Solution by helping industrial giant U.S. Steel overhaul its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting. The project involved migrating complex air emissions data from approximately 50 disparate spreadsheets across 30 facilities into a single, centralized Software as a Service (SaaS) platform. This move standardized Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) data collection, ensuring consistency and full alignment with the GHG Protocol for sustainability disclosures. The new system provides a single source of truth for emissions data, enhancing transparency, minimizing error risk, and providing real-time insights for environmental managers. By streamlining the process, Terracon helped make EPA reporting more efficient and enabled U.S. Steel to re-baseline its emissions with greater accuracy and confidence.

From Brownfield to Beacon of Hope

Beyond digital innovation, Terracon was recognized with an EBJ Project Merit award for its role in a transformative urban redevelopment project on the south side of Chicago. The Green Era anaerobic digester campus, built on a nine-acre former industrial brownfield site, exemplifies how environmental remediation can serve as a catalyst for profound community renewal.

The project addresses multiple systemic issues simultaneously. Its primary function is to divert millions of pounds of food waste from landfills annually, using an anaerobic digester to convert the organic material into two valuable resources: renewable natural gas (RNG) and nutrient-rich compost. The RNG, estimated at 140,000 MMBTU per year, is a carbon-negative energy source injected into the local utility grid. The compost is used to enrich the soil on the campus's seven-acre urban farm.

This initiative directly confronts the neighborhood's status as a "food desert" by creating a source of fresh, healthy produce, which is sold at an on-site retail store. The project, which also won the inaugural Climate Challenge Cup at the COP26 climate conference, creates green jobs, offers workforce training, and provides a replicable global model for equitable, sustainable urban development. Terracon’s contribution involved evaluating sustainable remediation options and developing best management practices that enabled the cleanup and redevelopment to proceed efficiently, leading to the successful launch of the facility in 2025.

Engineering a Climate-Resilient Future

The fourth award, a CCBJ Project Merit for Climate Resilient Infrastructure, recognizes a project that addresses the tangible impacts of a changing climate. Skelly and Loy, Inc., a Terracon company, was honored for its restoration of Valley Green Run in Philadelphia's historic Wissahickon Valley Park.

The popular park area, visited by thousands of hikers and nature enthusiasts, had suffered from severe erosion that degraded a scenic streamside trail, forcing visitors onto a narrow, busy road. The project was not merely a repair but a forward-looking redesign intended to withstand future climate stressors.

Skelly and Loy, working with the nonprofit Friends of the Wissahickon, engineered a comprehensive solution. This included the restoration of over 200 feet of the stream to create a stable, step-pool channel capable of managing heavy stormflow—a critical feature as extreme precipitation events become more common. This nature-based solution reduces sediment runoff into Wissahickon Creek, a key source of drinking water for Philadelphia. The project also involved planting a native riparian buffer to improve water quality and habitat. To ensure safe access, a 200-foot, ADA-compliant pedestrian bridge was constructed, elegantly weaving through the restored landscape. This project serves as a practical example of how to build climate-resilient infrastructure that protects natural resources while enhancing community access and safety.

The awards will be officially presented at the Environmental Industry Summit XXIV in San Diego in April 2026, marking a formal recognition of how these innovative projects are setting new standards for the environmental industry.