1. 1

2. Topics
What is Sustainability?
What is Green Infrastructure?
What is Resilient Infrastructure?
Sustainable Infrastructure Is Not LEED !
What are Owners/ Agencies Looking for?
Why Does it Matter? What Can I Do To Respond?
Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure
What Does This Mean for Designs? For Me?
Standards and Best Management Practices
Marketing, professional development, project delivery
Professional certification
2

3. What is Sustainability?
Sustainability is a set of environmental, economic and
social conditions in which all of society has the capacity
and opportunity to maintain and improve its quality of life
indefinitely without degrading the quantity, quality or the
availability of natural, social and economic resources.
3

4. Sustainability – Reliability, resilience, affordable,
supportable, balanced, efficient, effective, strategic focus….
COMMUNITY
ECONOMICS
ENVIRONMENT
4

5. What is Sustainable Civil Infrastructure?
Sustainable civil infrastructure provides environmental,
economic and societal well-being, now and for the future
(ASCE)
Policies, approaches and investments that consistently
provide effective systems over the long term with adequate
operations,maintenance and replacement (USEPA)
What is Green Infrastructure?
An array of products, technologies and practices that use
natural systems (or engineered systems that mimic natural
processes) to enhance overall environmental quality and
provide utility services (USEPA)
5

6. What is Resilient Infrastructure?
Before During After
Prevent, Recover, CAPABILITIES
Protect, Respond Mitigate
Mitigate Preparedness
Resist Recover or OUTCOME
Absorb
Adapt Resilience
Reduce Failure Reduce Time PRIORITIZATION
Probability to Recovery Risk Reduction
Reduce Consequences from Failure
Event Phases
6

7. Infrastructure Condition
Leaking pipes lose an
estimated 7 billion gallons of
clean drinking water a day
An estimated 10 billion
gallons of untreated
wastewater are discharged
each year from aging systems
7

8. Importance of Our Nation’s
Infrastructure Systems
All contribute directly and
substantially to our nation’s
productivity and quality of life “Clean drinking
water rated as #1
advancement in
How efficiently and effectively the last
these systems function is directly millennium.”
related to…
Design
Maintenance
improvements
8

9. Infrastructure Challenges
“Either the country can risk further productivity decline,
transportation congestion and potential catastrophes
from dilapidated systems or it can develop new
networks . . . to accommodate the expected 100 million
in population growth over the next generation.”
- Ernst and Young, Infrastructure 2009: A Pivot Point
9

10. Sustainable Development
Problems –
We’re using up natural
resources and ecological
carrying capacity faster
than it can be replaced,
replenished or restored
We’re not replacing or
fixing the infrastructure in
a way that conserves or
restores natural resources
and systems
We’re working with
infrastructure that was
built using old designs and
approaches
10

11. Which Future Will We Choose?
Repairing our infrastructure
the same old way
OR
Building a sustainable
infrastructure for the future
11

12. Sustainability in Buildings
LEED rating system has
transformed the building
industry
Application across the
U.S.
Created a new value
proposition for buildings
12

13. What About Infrastructure?
No overall sustainable infrastructure rating system
Many rating systems at the sector-specific level
Infrastructure presents a different challenge compared to
buildings:
Building design and construction controlled by a single
organization
Infrastructure – Public nature of civil and public works
projects affect/ benefit macro ecosystems, communities and
regions;
Need to consider the description of public support and the
more efficient use of materials, resources, interference or
impact on public expectations – sustainability needs to pay
for itself!
13

14. Guidelines and Criteria for Assessing
Sustainability
Prompts sustainable thinking
Stimulates innovation at all project stages
Identifies strengths and weaknesses
Assists risk management
Allows continual monitoring of performance
Demonstrates contribution to sustainable development
Encourages best management practice
Provides transparency of approach
Flexibility for selected application
14

15. Delivering Sustainability Infrastructure
The Traditional Triple Bottom Line – “Outcome Principles” –
social, economic and environmental.
Acknowledges that current state can be insufficient and that there are
opportunities to improve performance of our activities;
How Do We Achieve TBL - “Process Principles” – ethical,
stakeholder and governance.
Describes the approach to be adopted in behavior and decision making
and sustainable outcomes are possible when issues are considered
broadly and collaboratively.
In these six Principles, there are 3 levels of performance.
Preventing harm
Preserving current value
Creation of positive or restorative value
15

16. Triple Bottom Line Outcome Based Performance
Prevent Sustain Enhance
Social Protect health Respect values Enhance community
and safety through capacity
collaboration and
cooperation
Economic Preserve capacity Find efficiencies that Enhance economic
to provide reduce internal and value to customers,
services to meet external costs citizens while
current and managing life cycle
future needs financial viability
Environmen Prevent harm to Conserve the value Enhance the
tal the environment of the environment resilience of the
natural and human
environment
After Water Corporation Business Principles
16

17. Triple Bottom Line Process Based Performance
Prevent Sustain Enhance
Ethics Meet legal and Be accountable for Be trustworthy and
regulatory business and transparent in
requirements responsible for communications
actions and conduct
Governance Maintain best Make decisions with Solicit and
practice business broad information incorporate
systems, policies and risk stakeholder views
and procedures management through planning
considerations and decision making
Stakeholders Reliably deliver Responsibly educate Strategically plan
core services community and and position for long
others on needs, term actions,
direction and investments and
alternatives pathways
After Water Corporation Business Principles
17

18. Sustainability and Rating Systems?
Sustainability is not achieved by a uniform model or single
approach because of the varying contexts, environments,
community/ stakeholder/ physical needs;
Technology and performance efficiency are enablers to
achieve desired outcomes but the public interest is met
through behaviors and informed decisions;
A rating system :
Creates a framework of objective measures;
Provides guidance that can influence performance goals and
approaches;
Promotes project resilience, balance and strategic focus.
18

19. Sustainability - Rating System
ENVISION - the nationally recognized standard for
sustainability performance
Promotes transformational approaches with increased
project performance for triple bottom line
ENVISION scalable and broadly applicable
Accommodate sector-specific rating systems
Adaptable to varying levels of sustainability applications
19

20. Rating System Implementation
Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) Formed
Founding Partners - ASCE, APWA & ACEC
ISI Board met February 8/9 2011 and will own and
administer the rating system with support from
Founding Partners
ISI Core Products and Programs
Rating System
Communications
Owner (A/E, agencies, practitioners …) interface
Education and training for the rating system
Support of assessors and verifiers
Project recognition at various levels of performance
20

21. The Development Cycle
All three founding partners committed to sustainability
and developed a number of tools and resource libraries
APWA – Center for Sustainability
ASCE – Committee on Sustainability
ACEC – Green Scorecard
ISI Formation
Leveraging value of a consolidated approach
Creating a framework that should become the National
standard for Sustainable Infrastructure
Create a civil infrastructure standard model - USGBC
21

22. Goals for a Rating System
Should become recognized as a National Standard for
Sustainable Achievement based on user acceptance and
application; accommodate sector-specific approaches
Should guide practitioners, owners, stakeholders in the
framing of infrastructure solutions and the performance
goals
Sustainability must be affordable
Public nature of infrastructure projects requires support of
policy makers, communities and stakeholders – guide
behavioral improvements in project conceptualizing while
confirming technical competence
Keep it simple, practical, adaptable and usable
22

23. Project Rating for Stages of Application (ISI)
Stage Description Benefits
1 Overall Guidance and Provides understanding of sustainability
Checklists and triple bottom line accounting and
application to infrastructure projects.
Single Purpose, local projects
2 Assessment and Step by step process for owner or engineer
Recognition to perform self-assessment and to
indicate areas where improved benefits
could be achieved. Basis for ISI
verification
3 Single Purpose Projects Larger or more complex projects in
and Existing Project planning stages and where individual
Assessment (future) areas of excellence can be highlighted.
4 Decision Support (future) Allows balancing of various elements of a
project to optimize performance and
investment. Facilitates resolution of
differing opinions or approaches with
stakeholders or regulatory needs.
23

24. Sustainability Vectors Collaborative
Delivery
“Doing Things Right”
Process/Tools
Technological
Performance Improvements
Contributions
Higher
Performance Goals
Sustainable Performance
Design Improvements
Integrated
Solutions
Pathway Transform Program
Contributions Delivery
“Doing the Right Things”
24

25. Example of Sustainability Assessment Criteria
CRITERIA CATEGORY PROPOSED CRITERIA
Life-cycle costs
Willingness to pay
ECONOMIC
Affordability
Financial risk exposure
Resource utilization
ENVIRONMENTAL Service provision
Environmental impact
Human health risk impact
Acceptability to stakeholders
SOCIAL Participation and responsibility
Public awareness
Social inclusion
Source: AwwaRF,
2008
25

26. Sustainability Metrics
ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIAL
Funding source and Water quality Customer perception
Nutrients and other
financing of benefit
pollutants
Land value Pollutants’ effects Aesthetics/recreation
Erosion prevention
Life cycle cost Health and safety
Water source
Operational and importance
Educational and
maintenance cost ratios Ecology
Biodiversity-rich cultural opportunities
Return on assets (flood
habitats managed Public engagement
prevention) Land use
Indirect economic Environmental policy Acceptable risk
impacts and expenditure
Resource protection Environmental impact
of design
Source: AwwaRF,
2008
26

27. Rating System Primary Criteria
Section Weight (%)
1 Pathway 12.6
2 Project Strategy & Management 10.6
3 Community: Long & Short Term Effects 10.7
4 Land Use & Restoration 8.9
5 Landscapes 7.0
6 Ecology & Biodiversity 8.8
7 Water Resources & Environment 11.5
8 Energy & Carbon 11.7
9 Resource Management Including Waste 8.2
10 Transportation 10.0
TOTAL 100%
27

28. Project Use of ENVISION and Verification
Professionals should seek training and certification in
broad sustainability principles
Use ENVISION to enhance project performance;
Owners may apply for recognition of ENVISION
achievements and performance
Professional standards requirements for assessors, verifiers
and certified practitioners
28

29. Status
29

30. “You cannot solve a problem with the same sort of
thinking that created the problem”
- Albert Einstein
30