The US environmental consulting and engineering industry grew 4 percent in 2012, generating total revenues of $28.8 billion, according to Environmental Business Journal’s annual review of this environmental business segment.
EBJ estimates that 2013 finished with growth just under 4 percent and total $29.9 billion.
Leading the US environmental C&E market by revenues in 2012 were CH2M Hill, followed by AECOM Technology and URS Corp. The analysis of the top C&E firms shows that the share of the top five in gross revenues has risen from 18 percent in 2000 to 32 percent in 2012, with mergers and acquisitions serving as the principal driver.
The data also shows that the environmental C&E client sectors associated with the most robust growth in 2012 were petroleum, up 14 percent, renewable energy development (12 percent) and mining (10 percent). Even the client sectors hardest hit during the recession, such as real estate development and state and local markets, started showing signs of recovery in 2013, although the latter are still constrained by tight budgets, EBJ says.
CH2M Hill is the top US environmental firm, according to Engineering News-Record’s 2013 Top 200 Environmental Firms list. The global consulting, design, construction and operations firm has held the No. 1 spot on ENR’s annual list since 2006.
The No. 2 and No. 3 companies, URS and Veolia Environment North America, respectively, maintained their 2012 positions on the list as well. Tetra Tech, Bechtel, Energy Solutions, AECOM Technology, MWH Global, Golder Associates and Clean Harbors round out the top 10.
