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Frank L. Crabtree, PE, LEED AP BD+C
Education
BS Civil Engineering at University of Maine, Orono, Maine
Engineering Career
I grew up in an ‘engineering’ home, as my father was a mechanical engineer who could build anything for himself. He attended the University of Maine in Orono, and I felt I was following in his footsteps at UMO(except as a Civil Engineer). I liked being outdoors, and felt that the civil engineering field would give me more opportunity to work outside.
I became involved in the ASCE Student Chapter at UMO, and was President my senior year. Through that connection, I met Bill Ryan, chief engineer at J.W. Sewall Company in Old Town, Maine. I was hired by Sewall Company after graduation, and enjoyed twelve years of professional growth in consulting civil engineering under the mentoring of several great engineers. For three of those years I was the Treasurer of the Maine Section of ASCE. One of my favorite clients was Sugarloaf Mountain Corporation in Kingfield, Maine, where I spent quite a lot of time(in the ‘off-season’) developing water systems, sanitary systems and pump stations, innovative waste water treatment, golf course layout, new roadway designs, and anything else they needed help designing.
In 1987, I moved to Harriman Associates in Auburn, Maine, to create a Civil Engineering Department in the full-service architectural and engineering consulting firm. I have continued to manage the civil department for the past 31 years, and have enjoyed developing sites for buildings with a great team of multi-disciplined professionals. I enjoy being part of a building development team, and helping enhance the indoor environment as well as the outdoors. Our site work design is one of the first major parts of a typical building development, since we obtain the state, local, and federal regulatory permits that can greatly affect the schedule for the whole project. I have spent a great deal of time preparing Maine Department of Environmental Protection permits, together with local city and town Planning Board permits. As a result of my ‘permit’ experience, I became the Green Building Council LEED Project Administrator for all of Harriman’s projects that pursue LEED certification. Preparing the LEED templates for certification is much like preparing an application for permitting. That has been an interesting path, being responsible for the green building categories of building envelope, acoustics, mechanical and electrical systems, occupant comfort, as well as the outside site development.
I think one of my favorite parts of a new project is the site-selection phase, for those projects without a pre-determined location. Many large schools have needed my assistance in searching one or more towns for the best location for the new school development. Even though I have always lived in Maine, I learn more about communities and terrain all over the state, each time I search for these preferred building sites.
Professional Activities
- Maine Chapter ASCE member since 1975; Treasurer of chapter for 1976-1978; Student chapter contact member for UMO.
- Maine Chapter US Green Building Council member.
- 1985 Newspaper Article for Engineers-Week, “Sugarloaf Wastewater Disposal Requires Unusual Solution”.
- 1996 Maine ASCE Technical Seminar(co-authored), “Controlling Nitrate-Laden Runoff in a Marine Environment”.
- 2009 US Green Building Council Maine Chapter presentation, “Site Design for LEED and DEP Standards”.
- 2013 US Green Building Council Maine Chapter presentation, “Sustainable Rainwater Management, Rooftop to Pavement”.