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Environmental consultant vs sustainability consultant

The differences between environmental consultants and sustainability consultants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become an environmental consultant, becoming a sustainability consultant takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, an environmental consultant has an average salary of $74,913, which is higher than the $64,240 average annual salary of a sustainability consultant.

The top three skills for an environmental consultant include environmental compliance, OSHA and technical reports. The most important skills for a sustainability consultant are renewable energy, sustainability projects, and architecture.

Environmental consultant vs sustainability consultant overview

Environmental ConsultantSustainability Consultant
Yearly salary$74,913$64,240
Hourly rate$36.02$30.88
Growth rate4%8%
Number of jobs21,72314,470
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age4344
Years of experience124

What does an environmental consultant do?

An Environmental Consultant provides assessment and advisory services for their clients on matters regarding the management of environmental issues. They are generally hired by consultancy firms, which are hired by the public sector or commercial organizations.

What does a sustainability consultant do?

These days, corporate social responsibility has become the specific field and industry with technical subject matter like renewable energy, waste management, sustainable development, and so on. Their primary responsibility is to help clients measure and improve their sustainability performance.

Environmental consultant vs sustainability consultant salary

Environmental consultants and sustainability consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.

Environmental ConsultantSustainability Consultant
Average salary$74,913$64,240
Salary rangeBetween $56,000 And $98,000Between $37,000 And $110,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaMaryland
Best paying companyConocoPhillipsAutodesk
Best paying industryTechnologyFinance

Differences between environmental consultant and sustainability consultant education

There are a few differences between an environmental consultant and a sustainability consultant in terms of educational background:

Environmental ConsultantSustainability Consultant
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common majorEnvironmental ScienceEnvironmental Science
Most common collegeStanford UniversityUniversity of Pennsylvania

Environmental consultant vs sustainability consultant demographics

Here are the differences between environmental consultants' and sustainability consultants' demographics:

Environmental ConsultantSustainability Consultant
Average age4344
Gender ratioMale, 69.0% Female, 31.0%Male, 54.0% Female, 46.0%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 3.5% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 10.1% Asian, 12.8% White, 69.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 70.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage13%11%

Differences between environmental consultant and sustainability consultant duties and responsibilities

Environmental consultant example responsibilities.

  • Develop and implement SPCC regulations, and manage and coordinate routine policy audits for oil and gas industry operators.
  • Manage a project for the U.S.EPA Superfund program that evaluate flexible methods to distribute Superfund monies to state and tribal governments.
  • Manage environmental restoration waste site characterization activities in support of CERCLA cleanup.
  • Audit EHS programs for deficiencies, prepare reports with recommend corrective actions.
  • Prepare SPCC plans and other documentation associate with storage of large volumes of fuel oil.
  • Collect GPS points in the field to produce GIS maps of trees inventory and upload marks to database.
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Sustainability consultant example responsibilities.

  • Lead leadership conferences with groups of entry-level representative and other Jr. consultant to improve management skills.
  • Develop and manage campus organic gardens and greenhouse.
  • Manage several SDLC phases for enterprise systems used by state government agencies to perform environmental and environmental management.
  • Organize policy mini-conferences on distribute renewable energy systems and climate action planning.
  • Start as analyst, then Jr.
  • Establish production version for alternative BOM.
  • Show more

Environmental consultant vs sustainability consultant skills

Common environmental consultant skills
  • Environmental Compliance, 9%
  • OSHA, 6%
  • Technical Reports, 5%
  • Project Management, 5%
  • EPA, 4%
  • Due Diligence, 4%
Common sustainability consultant skills
  • Renewable Energy, 19%
  • Sustainability Projects, 15%
  • Architecture, 14%
  • Sustainable Design, 10%
  • Sustainability Programs, 9%
  • HVAC, 4%

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