Do you think that the road, bridge, water, wastewater infrastructure and flood control projects in your community are sustainable? Since these programs can be subject to skepticism by the involved communities, it is important to find a way to prove your programs are sustainable. How efficiently does your local government deliver infrastructure projects? Are the projects executed in an environmentally and socially responsible way?  Are the long-term economic effects sustainable?

As Director of Sustainability for the American Public Works Association (APWA), I have been lucky enough to work on an innovative rating tool to evaluate the sustainability of infrastructure projects – the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) EnvisionTM sustainable infrastructure rating system. Similar to rating systems for buildings, this system provides a holistic framework for evaluating and rating all types and sizes of infrastructure projects. Nationwide, several prominent communities are exploring the benefits of the tool on their projects.  For instance, the City of Berkeley, CA, is proposing to use Envision™ for prioritizing street and watershed improvements and the City of Edina, MN,  is using it in its draft Living Streets policy.

Envision™ is composed of a suite of assessment tools.  The Envision™ Checklist is a simple tool that helps users become familiar with the sustainability aspects of infrastructure project design.  It is structured as a series of Yes/No questions based on the Envision™ rating system. The full rating system digs deeper than the Checklist and is used when project teams are interested in pursuing an Envision™ award.  The Envision™ system has 60 sustainability criteria, called credits, divided into five sections: Quality of Life, Leadership, Resource Allocation, Natural World, and Climate and Risk.

The tool helps the project design team assess costs and benefits over the project lifecycle, evaluate environmental benefits, and use outcome-based objectives to reach higher levels of sustainability achievement.  It evaluates, grades, and gives recognition to infrastructure projects that use transformational, collaborative approaches to assess sustainability indicators, and helps project teams collaborate to determine if “we are doing the right project”, and “are we doing the project right”? 

ISI is also creating a corps of sustainability professionals who are trained in the use of the system called Sustainability Professionals (ENV SP). ENV SPs are credentialed by ISI to be an integral part of a project team who guides the team to achieve higher levels of sustainability. They also document project sustainability accomplishments, and submit the project for recognition. ISI is currently approaching the mark of 1000 ENV SPs. The first project awarded was the William Jack Hernandez Sport Fishery in Anchorage, AL, which won a Gold award for its many sustainable features, including recirculation technology that reduces by 95 percent the water and energy used. Several other infrastructure projects are currently being verified by ISI, and the results will be announced soon.

I encourage you to spend some time exploring the Envision TM system. Take the Envision™ Sustainability Professional (ENV SP) course to learn how to use the rating system and apply for project sustainability recognition and awards. Become an ENV SP to help guide your infrastructure project through the assessment rating tool. For more information, visit the ISI website at http://www.sustainableinfrastructure.org/assessors/credentialing.cfm.  _

The Envision™ tool is a collaboration between ISI, based in Washington, D.C., and the Zofnass Program for Sustainable Infrastructure at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. . ISI was co-founded by the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), the American Public Works Association (APWA), and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).