Aug 16 2011
Help ‘envision’ a Rating System That Certifies Infrastructure as Sustainable
As part of our expanding efforts at ASCE to advance sustainable practices, earlier this year we got together with the American Council of Engineering Companies and the American Public Works Association and planted a seed we called the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure. That seed has sprouted and has borne fruit, notably in the form of a draft rating system that certifies the sustainability of infrastructure works. That system, called envision™, is currently out for public comment and is scheduled for market launch early next year.
If you read my President’s Note in this month’s Civil Engineering, or have seen some of the other promotion for envision, you’re familiar with its intent. Envision will evaluate the sustainability of a wide range of civil infrastructure projects, especially those most critical to our communities’ and nation’s economic competitiveness and to protecting the environment, and will recognize projects that meet those goals. The system will review and score existing infrastructure and at the same time, serve as a target that new and renovating projects will want to reach. In a sense, envision will work much the same as the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification, but go beyond buildings to cover all infrastructure.
We want envision to be effective as a respected and credible sustainability rating system, with a certification that is sought after and valued by engineers, planners, architects, contractors, infrastructure owners and the public alike. That includes you. So I’m asking you to evaluate the evaluation system, to apply your professional insights to ensure that its methodology works, and to offer any suggestions that could help make it more effective. To read the envision draft and comment, visit ISI’s Web site, sustainableinfrastructure.org. All comments and suggestions are confidential and will be considered.
Here in my blog, I welcome your candid reactions to the whole envision sustainability certification concept. Do you think it can be as effective an incentive to apply sustainability in design and execution as LEED certification has been in the building industry?
One response so far
FHWA has a good system called INVEST, which we are leaning towards using. INVEST is still missing some core components of sustainability, just as envision is – I have sent in my comments. LEED certification costs a lot of money, hopefully this will not. INVEST doesn’t I believe. Envision’s “emobodied energy” concept has gotten some chuckles here in our office. Too subjective and if it requires buying a program to calculate it won’t be used.